Music
Press
"The Biggest Piano In Town actually IS - and then some." - All Music Guide
DJ Spinna, the foremost worldwide proselytizer of all things soulful...lent his remixing touch to the group's hot current single "The Hook"...The duo format leaves a lot of space for free-form excursions of straight-ahead jazz, fusion, hip-hop and broken beat. - The Washington Post - show preview
“The ever talented pianist and composer, Leo Tardin returns to ObliqSound for his second genius album of awe inspiring avant jazz explorations. Absolutely brilliant and essential for all discerning future music lovers.” - BPM (USA)
“The Biggest Piano in Town displays Tardin’s ability to send free-form jazz, future funk, art rock and hip-hop into exhilarating free fall.” - Metro London (UK)
“Keep an eye out for this group. Grand Pianoramax may be the future of funk.”
– Dallas Observer (USA)
- Dallas Observer (USA)
“It would be a real shame if Grand Pianoramax wasn’t playing to capacity audiences at somewhere like the Queen’s Hall next time. They certainly deserve it.
– Edinburgh Evening News (UK)
- Edinburgh Evening News (UK)
“Grand Pianoramax, developed from Leo Tardin’s old school synthesizers and the vocal stylings of Mike Ladd is a broad, rhythmic delirium.”
– Expresso (PT)
- Expresso (PT)
“Tardin, like colleagues Jason Moran, Matthew Shipp and Vijay Iyer, belongs to the small circle of those jazz pianists who look passionately and intelligently for new ways to reanimate jazz through the infusion of modern grooves.
– Berliner Zeiting (DE)
- Berliner Zeiting (DE)
Discography
2004: "Starlite" EP (remixes by Nuspirit Helsinki & Domu)
2005: "Grand Pianoramax" (debut album, released in USA, Canada, Europe and Japan)
2008: "The Biggest Piano in Town" (sophomore album feat. Mike Ladd, Invincible, Celena Glenn, Spleen, Deantoni Parks and Adam Deitch, released in USA, Canada and Europe).
2008: "The Hook" single (original + remix by DJ Spinna, released digitally worldwide in August 2008).
Photos
Bio
Tailored to explore hybrid stylistic directions in their most essential renditions, keyboardist and band leader Leo Tardin developed the ambitious Grand Pianoramax project by joining forces with first-class NYC drummers Deantoni Parks (The Mars Volta, Meshell Ndegeocello), live drum'n'bass pioneer Jojo Mayer and Adam Deitch (Talib Kweli, John Scofield). To add to the unique sound, Tardin invited in some of the most creative poets/MCs on the scene today, including Americans Mike Ladd, Celena Glenn (Coco Rosie), Invincible (Platinum Pied Pipers), and French hip-hop/folk artist Spleen.
Grand Pianoramaxs latest album, "The Biggest Piano In Town", was released worldwide by ObliqSound in spring 2008. Tardin and company toured North America and Europe, including a 10-city US tour opening for Maceo Parker at legendary venues including the Fillmore in San Francisco and The Roxy in West Hollywood. This sophomore effort generated rave reviews and features in magazines including Downbeat, XLR8R, BPM, Jazzthing, Jazzthetik, Piranha, Jazz Magazine, Jazzman and Vibrations. Remixes of the albums single The Hook by DJ Spinna and German production team Stefan Rogall-m.path.iq released in August 2008, debuting on DanceTracksDigital.com as the store's top download for three weeks running. "The Biggest Piano In Town" radio version with remixes continues to climb the CMJ RPM charts, now charting at #17.
Grand Pianoramaxs first CD, the self-titled "Grand Pianoramax", was released worldwide in 2005 by ObliqSound. The album received 43,000 downloads via iTunes USA and top-notch reviews from both sides of the Atlantic, including high marks from press outlets such as Billboard, Flavorpill, and BPM, to Vibrations, De:Bug and Jazz UK, among others. The "Starlite" single was also released in 2005, featuring remixes by Nuspirit Helsinki and Domu, and frequently appeared on the playlists of tastemakers like Laurent Garnier, Rainer Trüby, Mr Scruff, Patrick Forge, Osunlade.
Primarily a live project, Tardin has performed under the Grand Pianoramax moniker at venues such as Joes Pub, Jazz Standard, Nublu, Union Hall, Sirius Satellite Radio (New York), Jazz Café (London), Voodoo Rooms (Edinburgh), Blue Frog (Mumbai), Moods (Zürich), Le Tryptique, Divan du Monde (Paris), Quasimodo, Lovelite (Berlin), Galeria ZDB (Lisbon) and at many festivals, including the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Tardin, a native of Geneva, Switzerland, has been based in New York since his graduation from the New School University in 2000. He has performed and recorded with legendary jazz musicians Roy Ayers, Frank Morgan, Toots Thielemans, Charles Tolliver, Dave Liebman, Enrico Rava, Maria João and Erik Truffaz, and co-led a quartet with harmonica phenomenon Grégoire Maret.
Always one for exploration and mixing different musical genres, Tardin has performed with Orient Expressions in Istanbul, a Turkish ensemble blending traditional Anatolian music with electronica. He also regularly performs with Portuguese singer Paula Oliveira, with whom he recorded two highly successful albums of Portuguese traditional and revolution-era songs for Universal Music.
In 1999, Leo Tardin was the first winner of the Montreux Jazz Festival International Piano Solo Competition, a competition presided by George Duke, with 72 contestants pre-selected from 4 continents.
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