Born: May 28, 1953 Primary Instrument: Piano
Annie has played keyboards since she was one-and-a-half years old. Coming from a family of musicians and artists helped. By the time she was four, she had been thrown out of classical lessons for hearing intricate pieces (she has perfect pitch) and playing them back to the teacher. She started doing gigs.
At eighteen she got a Hammond B-3 for graduation and almost exclusively played the organ for ten years. Despite winning a scholarship to Carnegie Mellon for opera in 1971, she went on the road instead. She opened for B.B. King in Las Vegas at eighteen, and played with Louis Prima, The Four Coins and her own trio until 1984.
Back in Pittsburgh, she was nominated for best jazz vocalist, played all the festivals there with Emily Remler, Kenny Blake and others. She went to Washington, DC to play for Wilson Picket, Danny Gatton and members of Peaches and Herb.
When Emily passed away, she was very disillusioned and saddened by this and took a job as a counselor on a Reservation in OK for the next ten years. Ready to come back in 2003, it's been full steam ahead. Recently, she has been playing with different bands and arranging for others. She is currently in the studio and expects her CD to be released in the next month.
Annie covers keys, key bass and vocals with the help of sax, guitar and drums.
“I knew it was jazz when opera and its total discipline turned me off,” says Annie. “I want the freedom.”
