Lynne Arriale heard a voice and we're all the richer for it!
By CP Christopher Peppas
In what is arguably the most famous scene in cinematic history, Iowa Farmer Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, heard a voice say: “If you build it, he will come!”
Well, Lynne Arriale had her own Field of Dreams moment shortly after graduating from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music with a Master’s Degree in Classical Music.
She was walking down the streets of her home town Milwaukee’s east side. Only instead of asking her to build a baseball field in the middle of a corn field, “the voice in my head said: “You should study jazz!,’” Lynne said in a recent interview.
Lynne could have easily dismissed the voice as a gust of wind instead of the whisperings of a very savvy Muse. But she didn’t.
And four-plus decades of sharing her love of her new-found passion to perform jazz and sixteen albums later, the audience continues to reap the benefits of her obedience.
And despite all the division we face each day, it’s clear that the world agrees on Lynne’s immense talent.
The Jazz Journal writes: “Arriale is clearly one of the best contemporary jazz pianists.” “She remains a force of nature.’ According to All About Jazz and Jazzthing adds: “Lynne Arriale has been one of the great poets on the piano for decades.”
Lynne’s love of the piano came much earlier, however. “I guess I was about three or four,” she said. “I learned to play by ear on this plastic toy piano. I begged my parents to let me take lessons which I started after morning kindergarten.
“Playing jazz was quite a career change for me. I grew up listening to musicals like My Fair Lady. Moon River was the very first song I learned to play.”
When Lynne first got her arms around the notion of playing jazz, she was enthralled with the idea of improvisation. “I can make melodies over existing harmonies…I get to do this,?” she asked herself. Well, she was hooked.
One of the first things that caught her ear was Thelonius Monk’s ‘Round Midnight.’ Why not start at the top?
Arriale paid close attention to the “harmonic structure” of the song and honed in on Charlie Parker, Jean Harris and Keith Jarrett. And locally, she studied with David Hazeltine, who spread his wings to New York and the world and continues to perform among the very best there is.
Lynne moved to New York in 1986 and just went “from club to club and dropped off a cassette that I had recorded.” It got the attention of the right people and before you knew it, she was playing with the likes of Jamil Nasser, Ahmad Jamal, Frank Gant, Rufus Reid and Elliott Zigmund.
In 1993, Arriale took First Prize in the Great American Jazz Piano Competition. Not long after that, Lynne was asked to perform in Japan for its ‘Hundred Golden Fingers’ and more than fit in with her ten talented digits.
“Jazz is the sound of surprise,” Lynne said. “When improvising, you can hear the same tune totally different. It’s total freedom and there’s real magic that happens.”
And there’s also real magic that takes place when Lynne Arriale dons her various caps as songwriter, composer, producer and performer on her original material.
Lynne feels the emotion and then tells the story note by note. Her latest drop is Being Human and it was inspired “by the great division in our country and around the world,” she said. “It’s looking deep into the qualities that we all share like hope, unity, passion, courage, love and curiosity. “I’ve dedicated it to individuals who exemplify those qualities.”
The Jazz Unlimited Newsletter will review her effort in next month’s issue. In the meantime, you can learn more and catch up on Lynne’s body of work on her website: www.lynnearriale.com.
Bottom line is: It pays to listen!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CP Christopher Peppas is a Journalist, Jazz Vocalist and Conga Player in the Greater Milwaukee Area and Correspondent at Large for the Jazz Unlimited Newsletter and Content Manager/Chief Contributor to CreativProse, Ltd. (sic), Social Media, Brand Management.
