Gary Versace

Gary Versace attained a leading position among contemporary jazz keyboardists within just a few years, although the path involved sustained effort and eventual recognition. He entered the world in Greenwich, Connecticut, on April 25, 1968, receiving his earliest instruction from his mother, a vocalist and organist. Despite his father’s encouragement to pursue the accordion, Versace turned instead to the piano and discovered jazz before finishing high school. He worked privately with Kevin Hays, completed a master’s degree in music performance at the Eastman School of Music, and served eight years as a fully tenured professor of jazz studies at the University of Oregon–Portland, where he also appeared in a dual-piano concert alongside Marian McPartland. Toward the end of his Portland tenure he took up the organ, the instrument favored by his mother, before relocating to New York City in 2002. Since that move he has ranked among the most sought-after organists in the field, contributing to the Grammy-winning big band led by Maria Schneider and to the Nuttree Quartet alongside Jerry Bergonzi. Additional small-group associations have included Andy LaVerne, Frank Kimbrough, John Scofield, John Abercrombie, Adam Nussbaum, Eliot Zigmund, Lee Konitz, Dick Oatts, Seamus Blake, John Hollenbeck, Tim Ries, Donny McCaslin, Rich Perry, Jonathan Kreisberg, Adam Rogers, Tom Guarna, John Ellis, Scott Wendholt, Steve LaSpina, Loren Stillman, Jason Marsalis, Joey Baron, Tom Rainey, Tony Reedus, Clarence Penn, Danny Gottlieb, Matt Perrine, Drew Gress, Brad Shepik, Peter Bernstein, Ingrid Jensen, and Joe Magnarelli. Down Beat’s Critics Poll named him a Rising Star for three straight years, 2006 through 2008. His first recording for Pony Canyon, Winter Sonata, appeared in 2004; Steeplechase then issued Time and Again (2005), Many Places (2006), and Reminiscence (2007), while Criss Cross released Outside In in 2008. Versace remains a core member of Matt Wilson’s Arts & Crafts quartet, which also features Terrell Stafford and the late bassist Dennis Irwin.