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Artist
Cyrus Chestnut
12+ albums
jazzjazz pianopianocontemporary jazzPost-Bop
about
Cyrus Chestnut born on January 17, 1963, in Baltimore, Maryland; son of McDonald (a retired post office employee and church organist) and Flossie (a city social services worker and church choir director). Chestnut started his musical career at the age of six, playing piano at Mount Calvary Baptist Church in hometown. By age nine, he was studying classical music at Peabody Institute. In 1985, Chestnut earned a degree in jazz composition and arranging from Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music.[2] While at Berklee, Chestnut was awarded the Eubie Blake Fellowship (1982), the Quincy Jones Scholarship (1983), and the Oscar Peterson Scholarship (1984). Chestnut toured as pianist for Jon Hendricks, 1986-88; Terrence Blanchard, 1988-90; Donald Harrison, 1988-90; Wynton Marsalis, 1991; and the Betty Carter Trio, 1991-93. His association with Carter, which began in '91, significantly affected his outlook and approach to music, confirming his already iconoclastic instincts. Carter advised him to "take chances" and "play things I've never heard," Chestnut says. In 1993, at the age of 30, Chestnut signed with Atlantic Records, releasing the critically-acclaimed Revelation (1993), followed by The Dark Before The Dawn (1994) (the album debuted in the sixth spot on the Billboard Jazz Charts), Earth Stories (1995) and then Cyrus Chestnut (1998). Chestnut has also performed and/or recorded with, Freddy Cole, Bette Midler, Jon Hendricks, Freddie Hubbard, Jimmy Scott, Chick Corea, Isaac H
