Dan Papirany
is an adventurous Jazz pianist, composer who understands and follows the
eloquent philosophy that is to play melodic phrases and rich harmonies.
Originally
starting out as a drummer at seventeen years of age, he discovered the music of
Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett's piano playing which led him to switch
instruments to the piano. He remembers a quote from drummer Peter Erskine,
"play what you mean and mean what you play” for this quote opened up a
whole new horizon as he began to play and record professionally as a serious
musician. While studying jazz piano with Leigh Jackson in Wellington, Dan
formed his first trio and played in local venues and mainly at "Bar
Bodega".
While taking
post graduate musicology courses at Victoria University in Wellington Dan was
offered the position of Music HOD at a school in Auckland New Zealand teaching
Maori students a music curriculum based on Jazz. Dan formed his Auckland trio
and performed solos and with his trio at local venues including the famous
London Bar and the Jazz Bar.
Dan’s trio
recorded their debut album of jazz standards which was released by Ode Records
in March of 2004 entitled “Session One” and was nominated for a New Zealand
Music Award.
“Session
Two” was a compilation of original tunes, the three releases afterward were
live albums recorded at the trio residency venue The "MLC Café & Bar”.
His 6th album "2011" and his 7th album "2014" includes his
original “Bargara" which won second place in the Australia Jazz Convention
Original tunes competition in December 2011. His latest recording is titled
"2015" and includes one original tune entitled "Eb Major Waltz”.
Dan’s
repertoire consists of originals and jazz standards while appearing at local
jazz spots in Australia and New Zealand. After many stage performances Dan
found that his playing matured, phrases became more melodious, often stretching
across the bar line with phrases appearing to be more defined and resolving
better than before as he consistently reaches for higher heights in his musical
abilities.
His favorite
musical setting is to perform at a venue that houses a grand piano with a
cohesive group of musicians that listens and interacts with each other as they
counter solo with the piano, like the Bill Evans trio is known for presenting.
Papirany’s
music is the opposite of where the mainstream jazz sound is today, he finds
that current sounds are always experimental and doesn't try to follow these
trends, simply because he wouldn't be happy sounding like most modern players.
He currently has collaboration with Norwegian vocalist Vibeke Voller resulting
in an exciting, rich and creative inspiration to much loved jazz standards! “I
took a chance” is their second Duo album which is due to be released at the end
of the year. The complimentary interaction of these two unique talents has
produced a fresh and polished musical experience!
Dan’s recent
collaboration is with Brazilian vocalist Ron Bernard, performing songs with
just piano and vocals.
In May 2016
Dan performed with his band two successful shows at EUROPAfest 2016 in
Bucharest, and was invited to return next year. Dan is currently seeking
opportunities to be featured on one of the emerging platforms, such as
streaming tv, radio etc. as well as being listed on non-exclusive booking
agencies worldwide.
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