Liz Story

Story pursued classical piano studies during her upbringing in Southern California, at one point contemplating careers as a music librarian or theorist. An encounter with jazz pianist Bill Evans at a New York club abruptly reshaped her outlook on music. Having already trained at Juilliard while enrolled at Hunter College, she left her formal studies to pursue jazz instruction from Sanford Gold, whom Evans had suggested. Upon returning to Los Angeles, she advanced her training through programs at UCLA and the Dick Grove Music Workshops, yet her decisive turn as a composer arose from a regular engagement performing piano at a French restaurant. Because the instrument lacked its front casing, she had nowhere to rest her scores and therefore began to improvise without preparation. She eventually recorded several of these impromptu pieces and forwarded the tape to Windham Hill. Four days later Will Ackerman contacted her, leading to a contract for her debut album, Solid Colors, a collection of impressionistic piano miniatures. Across five releases, among them a two-album period with RCA Novus, her approach broadened to encompass electronic collaborations with Mark Isham as well as compositions for diverse ensembles, though the piano continues to serve as the central element in her meticulously shaped works.