Death Ray Boogie - Stephanie Trick

Stephanie Trick “has come to practically dominate the stride piano field,” notes reviewer Jack Rummel. Harlem stride piano, which developed in the 1920s and ’30s, is an orchestral style of two-handed piano playing that not only swings, but is also technically demanding and exciting to watch. Louis Mazetier, a respected interpreter of this genre, writes in the Bulletin of the Hot Club of France that she has “won the esteem of specialists in the genre with wonderful interpretations of stride classics, James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, and Don Lambert (which she learned by ear). She plays these pieces with a punch that is matched by her precise interpretation.”



A classically trained pianist, Stephanie began playing piano at the age of five. During the time between her beginning years and high school, her piano teacher exposed her to early jazz styles, and the syncopation and swinging rhythm piqued her interest. While in college, it became clear to Stephanie that she wanted to pursue stride and classic jazz styles professionally.



With a swinging music style that includes boogie woogie and blues from the late ’20s era plus Fats Waller and Ralph Sutton, Stephanie has performed in many parts of the United States as well as in Europe in a variety of venues, including the Great Connecticut Traditional Jazz Festival, the Cincy Blues Fest in Cincinnati, the West Coast Ragtime Festival in Sacramento, California. In 2008 and again in 2010, she was invited to perform at the international Stride and Swing Summit in Boswil, Switzerland, where she teamed up with pianists Louis Mazetier (France); Rossano Sportiello, Paolo Alderighi (Italy); Bernd Lhotzky, Chris Hopkins (Germany); Jon Weber, and Ehud Asherie (USA).



A serious student, passionate about traditional jazz and stride heritage, her studies have included piano master classes, training abroad in Germany and Austria, and she has studied under a number of celebrated musicians, including Louis Mazetier, Rossano Sportiello, Carl Sonny Leyland, and Danny Coots. Graduating from college with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, she was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society at the University of Chicago.