Solo jazz artist Lyman Strong has been playing jazz live for 50 years and the time has only made his hands fly faster across the keys. Native to the Auburn region, Strong remembers how he started playing at the Reva Rollerdrome. Teenagers of today wouldn't believe what fun looked like in Strong's time, when kids like Strong skated day and night at the rollerdrome to the sounds of a live organist.
“I was taking piano lessons, and I was just fascinated by that organ so I talked him into giving me lessons,” Strong said.
Listeners may be familiar with Strong#'s group from 1993-1996, called Blue Norther. A Syracuse-based band, Blue Norther was known for playing main stage at the Syracuse Jazz Festival as well as playing wine festivals in the summer at Glenora. Blue Norther#'s sound was an unmistakably full jazz onslaught featuring not only Strong's work on the keys but a very lovely horn as well, particularly on the Blue Norther CD track Po'Dunked to Death.
Strong shines on his own as well, such as on the track, “A Moment with My Father,” which he only played for that CD, in just one actual moment for his late father. Strong's keys tell the story of his father's life effortlessly as softly played interludes mix in with more emphatic playing.
Strong likes to tell the story of how he didn't become a jazz musician in a vacuum. He often mentions a “drummer around town” named Dick Howard, who worked Strong's first gig with him when Strong was 13 and Howard was 17. Howard and Strong continued working together in all of the clubs that have since disappeared from the area, including Green Acres and Wood Acres.
Strong#'s memories of the music scene include visiting Emerson Park every Friday and Saturday night as a little boy with his parents to see Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and other big bands.
As his career advanced, Strong and Howard traveled the circuit of night clubs around the eastern United States.
In 1972, Strong was named the best pops organist in the United States by Yamaha Corporation. Strong was mentioned recently in a book by writer/publisher Bob Popyk and piano player Vincent Falcone, who was Frank Sinatra#'s piano player for years. The book is called “Frankly Just Between Us.” Falcone had started to play the Hammond B-3 organ, an electric organ, which is Strong's instrument of choice. Falcone calls Strong “one of the best Hammond B-3 artists the world has ever known” and “a truly remarkable player.”
Strong is planning a new CD on the Hammond B-3 with a drummer and a guitarist this spring.
If you go
Who: Lyman Strong
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Big Kahuna#'s Raw Bar and Grill, 17 Columbus St., Auburn
Cost: No cover
Listeners may be familiar with Strong#'s group from 1993-1996, called Blue Norther. A Syracuse-based band, Blue Norther was known for playing main stage at the Syracuse Jazz Festival as well as playing wine festivals in the summer at Glenora. Blue Norther#'s sound was an unmistakably full jazz onslaught featuring not only Strong's work on the keys but a very lovely horn as well, particularly on the Blue Norther CD track Po'Dunked to Death.
Strong shines on his own as well, such as on the track, “A Moment with My Father,” which he only played for that CD, in just one actual moment for his late father. Strong's keys tell the story of his father's life effortlessly as softly played interludes mix in with more emphatic playing.
Strong likes to tell the story of how he didn't become a jazz musician in a vacuum. He often mentions a “drummer around town” named Dick Howard, who worked Strong's first gig with him when Strong was 13 and Howard was 17. Howard and Strong continued working together in all of the clubs that have since disappeared from the area, including Green Acres and Wood Acres.
Strong#'s memories of the music scene include visiting Emerson Park every Friday and Saturday night as a little boy with his parents to see Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and other big bands.
As his career advanced, Strong and Howard traveled the circuit of night clubs around the eastern United States.
In 1972, Strong was named the best pops organist in the United States by Yamaha Corporation. Strong was mentioned recently in a book by writer/publisher Bob Popyk and piano player Vincent Falcone, who was Frank Sinatra#'s piano player for years. The book is called “Frankly Just Between Us.” Falcone had started to play the Hammond B-3 organ, an electric organ, which is Strong's instrument of choice. Falcone calls Strong “one of the best Hammond B-3 artists the world has ever known” and “a truly remarkable player.”
Strong is planning a new CD on the Hammond B-3 with a drummer and a guitarist this spring.
If you go
Who: Lyman Strong
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Big Kahuna#'s Raw Bar and Grill, 17 Columbus St., Auburn
Cost: No cover
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