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Joel Fairstein

Hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, Joel Fairstein has earned critical praise as jazz pianist, composer, producer, and studio musician. His first album, Umbra, an LP recorded at age 24 with eighteen sidemen has since become a sought- after collectors item.

Joel graduated from Berklee college in 1983 and freelanced regularly in Boston before performing cruise ship gigs in the Bahamas and Hawaii. Returning to Knoxville in 1985, Joel began an extended period of engagements with his piano trio and earned his Masters in Music in 1992 at the University Of Tennessee, where he studied with Donald Brown.

He has appeared with Monica Mancini and the Knoxville Chamber Orchestra, Eddie Henderson, Ray Anderson, Oteil Burbridge, R.B. Morris, Sam The Sham, Hector Qirko, Dave O’Dell, and many others. Joel has produced six albums of jazz compositions and appeared on dozens of other recordings.

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Take Five With...

Take Five with Joel Fairstein

Read "Take Five with Joel Fairstein" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Joel Fairstein: Hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, Joel Fairstein has earned critical praise as jazz pianist, composer, producer, and studio musician. His first album, Umbra, an LP recorded at age 24 with eighteen sidemen has since become a sought-after collectors item.Joel graduated from Berklee college in 1983 and freelanced regularly in Boston before performing cruise ship gigs in the Bahamas and Hawaii. Returning to Knoxville in 1985, Joel began an extended period of engagements with his ...

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Joel Fairstein Releases "Emergence"

Joel Fairstein Releases "Emergence"

Source: Michael Ricci

Critically acclaimed Knoxville keyboardist Joel Fairstein taps into his Jazz, Latin, and Soul roots to take us on a journey through Brazil and beyond with Emergence, his sixth album. “I was in Brazil in 2006 shooting a short film on Iguazu, Carnival, and Bahia. Hearing the samba schools inspired me to compose an original soundtrack of piano with percussion, but the music eventually eclipsed the film project, and I ended up with a full album with expanded instrumentation. I'd also ...

“An accomplished studio keyboardist...He definitely succeeds!” -Robert Carlberg, Electronic musician

“Some of the coolest jazz chops in the SouthEast.” -Wayne Bledsoe, Knoxville News Sentinal

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