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A sensitive ballad that is at once intimate in its emotions and expansive in its harmonies, Pierce On Earth is immensely appealing. Geoffrey Keezer interweaves modern jazz vernacular with soulful licks, giving the interpreter of the melody an abundance to explore. The result is a ballad that offers the opportunity for a deeply personal performance. Quite a feat for a piece written by a 17-year-old! Our audio excerpt begins with the entrance of the melody (after Geoff's free piano solo introduction) and continues through the A section. Geoff wrote this composition for Billy Pierce, who can be heard on tenor sax on this recording.
This young man was only seventeen years old when he wrote and recorded this composition on his first record date. Five months later Geoff was on saxophonist Ricky Ford's album, with trumpeter Roy Hargrove, bassist Bob Hurst and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, playing and contributing a composition. In June he recorded his second album, with vibist Steve Nelson, drummer Victor Lewis and bassist Charnett Moffett. Later in June he joined pianists James Williams, Harold Mabern and Mulgrew Miller on the "Four Pianos For Phineas" album. Billy Pierce and Geoff recorded together again in 1992.
A lauded name on the jazz scene since the tender age of 17, Geoffrey Keezer is a native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Geoff took up the piano at age three and quickly showed himself to be a prodigy. As an eighteen-year-old freshman at Berklee College of Music in 1989, he was invited to join Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, launching his talents into the spotlight. The year before, his mentor James Williams encouraged him to record his debut album, the well-received "Waiting In The Wings." His career continued to take off in the early 1990s with a performance at the Hollywood Bowl of Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue (conducted by John Mauceri). Read more...
