Born: October 12, 1951 Primary Instrument: Piano
Linda Presgrave, jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, relocated to New York City in 1998 leaving a very active music career in her native city of St. Louis. Her debut jazz CD as a leader, In Your Eyes, on METROPOLITAN RECORDS, was released nationally in April, 2000 and featured top jazz artists including John Stubblefield on tenor saxophone, Brian Lynch on trumpet, Cecil Brooks III and Wade Barnes on drums, Harvie S and Carline Ray on bass. May of 2004, marked the date of Linda’s second release on METROPOLITAN RECORDS with, The Linda Presgrave Quartet - LIVE. This CD features Linda’s working New York jazz quartet and was recorded live during the group’s year long engagement at the famed Warwick New York Hotel. 2006 marks the release of Linda’s third CD on METROPOLITAN RECORDS, The Journey, which features the music of seven jazz musicians who happen to be women. The musicians featured on the CD include Linda’s New York quartet along with famed jazz artists including Oliver Lake on alto saxophone and flute, Harvie S on bass and Eric Allen on drums.
Linda has been a featured artist on three different dates on the stage of the prestigious JVC Jazz Festival, New York as a part of the International Women in Jazz Festival Special Event Concert with The Linda Presgrave Quartet (2000), as a member of the International Women in Jazz Ensemble (2003) and as a member of the International Women in Jazz All-Stars (2005).
December of 2003 marked Linda’s European performance debut as the pianist with Ritmi E Voci Dell’International Women in Jazz, New York in Frascati, Italy as a part of the festival ControCanto: Donne in Jazz sponsored by Fondazione Adkins Chiti: Donne in Musica. In 2004, she was invited back to Italy on the same series with her own group, The Linda Presgrave Quartet, performing once again at Scuderie Aldobranzini (Frascati) and also at the University of Rome. In October of 2005, through Donne in Musica, Linda was invited to perform on the Gala Concert: A Celebration of Women in Music of the first ever World Forum on Music in Los Angeles.
Linda also serves as the pianist in Carol Sudhalter’s Astoria Big Band which was featured on the acclaimed Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in May of 2004. Linda recorded with the same group on “Last Train to Astoria” on the Carolina Records label. Also In 2004, Linda recorded with the Acme Brass Co. on X-mas Xing and in 2005 was the pianist for jazz vocalist Debbie Gifford’s outstanding recording So Many Songs About Love. This album features some of New York’s finest recording artists including Allison Miller on drums and Harvie S on bass. Linda serves as the house pianist in many of the International Women in Jazz events and has accompanied outstanding women jazz vocalists in performances at famed New York jazz clubs.
Before arriving on the New York jazz scene, Linda performed with her own group, After Six Jazz, at the finest jazz venues in St. Louis including Jazz at the Bistro and Just Jazz. At the same time, she worked with the Sessions Big Band, the Modern Vintage Jazz Quartet and the Kim Portnoy Jazz Orchestra. As a former professional French Horn player, she performed regularly at the MUNY, FOX and RIVERPORT theaters in orchestral settings behind top wntertainers, world class ballet ensembles and national theatrical productions.
“Linda Presgrave shows that she is one of the finer young pianists in the modern mainstream of jazz today.” ~Scott Yanow - Jazz Heritage Society
“The St. Louis transplant Linda Presgrave, a probing, resourceful mainstream pianist with an impressive debut album, In Your Eyes, prowls the bebop landscape for all the stylistic diversity it can offer.” --The New Yorker
”The main star, however, is Linda Presgrave, whose piano style is pretty original and whose five songs are worth exploring”. Recommended. - Scott Yanow (AMG)
”With her lyrical playing and a stellar ensemble, Presgrave adeptly mines the secular and spiritual side of the music while paying homage to her heroines.” For more information, visit www.metropolitanrecordsnyc.com - by Terrell Holmes 30 May 2006 | ALL ABOUT JAZZ
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