DAN LIPTON is a musical chameleon whose dynamic career straddles the uptown/downtown divide. A songwriter/composer, arranger/orchestrator, ace pianist and lover of backslashes, Lipton's work bridges pop music, film scoring and theater.
He appears on the latest album from feminist hip-hop trio Northern State (Ipecac Recordings)... he has backed singer/songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche all over NYC and on XM Radio... his playing and songwriting are featured on the new album from theater singer Lauren Kennedy (PS Classics)... he surfaces regularly in downtown clubs with both Brazilian groove chanteuse Eliane and folk/soul songwriter Dina Dean... he spent two years touring with Brooklyn indie rocker Matthew Pop.
DAN LIPTON: ZEITGEIST
Music from and inspired by Dan Lipton, 2005.
Dan Lipton's most recent album of original songs and music is ZEITGEIST, a collection of collaborations with today's most exciting musicians and vocalists in classical, pop, jazz and theatrical music. (It has nothing to do with the latest Smashing Pumpkins album; Lipton's was released in late 2005.) Album guests include Steely Dan trumpeter Michael Leonhart, opera singer Valérie MacCarthy, carnival rock band The Misconceptions, Tony-nominated actor/singer Gavin Creel and Nonesuch Records artist Audra McDonald, among many others: 41 musicians, 68 minutes and 19 tracks for 5 bucks.
JUKEBOX SALOON
Recorded at WBEZ Chicago, released in 2006.
Another recent recording is his collaboration with vocalist Colby Beserra, on JUKEBOX SALOON, a jazz duo project inspired by the Tony Bennett/Bill Evans collaboration. Beserra and Lipton create unique, jazzed-out re-interpretations of their favorite pop songs... by Beck, Cowboy Junkies, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney and more.
RECENTLY:
In August 2008, Dan Lipton led the house band for a concert at NYC's Zipper Factory featuring Martha Plimpton and Lucy Wainwright Roche. Other guests included Rufus Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright III and Mike Doughty, formerly of Soul Coughing. In June, Lipton completed co-producing an album for Jason Danieley on the PS Classics label, to be released in September.
PREVIOUSLY:
In 2007, Lipton appeared onstage and in costume, playing piano in SALVAGE, the third play of Tom Stoppard's trilogy THE COAST OF UTOPIA at Lincoln Center, which swept the Tony Awards with the most nominations and the most wins of any play in Broadway history. His playing can be heard on the play's Ghostlight Records soundtrack recording. On John Lithgow's latest (Grammy-nominated) children's album THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET (Razor & Tie Records), DL played piano, kazoo and contributed to arrangements... He has helped Duncan Sheik develop the music for his latest theatrical projects, THE NIGHTINGALE and NERO... Dan Lipton is a co-creator and resident music director of DON'T QUIT YOUR NIGHT JOB, the hit comedy variety show that runs monthly at the Zipper Factory Theater in NYC.
Lipton has scored award-winning short films including THE WAITING ROOM (above, directed by Reif Larsen), Corey Rosen's KEEP CLEAR (Empire State Film Festival) and Jeff Yorkes' WINNER'S CUP (Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award).
A classically trained pianist, Dan Lipton appears regularly in concert halls across the country accompanying acclaimed Nonesuch Records recording artist and 4-time Tony winner Audra McDonald. Supporting McDonald, Lipton has played with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony. They have performed at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall in NYC, Chicago's Symphony Center... and in February 2006 they performed for the President in the East Room of The White House.
OTHER ALBUMS:
DAN LIPTON: LIFE IN PICTURES
His 2003 album of guitar-based pop earned an ASCAPlus Award for Popular Music.
DAN LIPTON: TRAVELOGUE
His debut solo album from 1999 is a pop song cycle written and recorded in transit.
OTHER STUFF:
DL was the original pianist for the hit Broadway musical THE FULL MONTY. Lipton, the youngest member of the orchestra, played on the show's Grammy-nominated cast recording (RCA Victor) and wrote about his experience in the HarperCollins book WORKING MUSICIANS alongside anecdotes by legends like Carole King, Bruce Springsteen and Keith Richards. Since then, he has played on theatrical projects by Nonesuch composer Adam Guettel (THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA) and pop songwriter David Yazbek (DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS).
Lipton collaborated on musical arrangements for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (another Grammy-nominated recording, on Ghostlight Records), and he has arranged music and led bands for award-winning performers across the country, including: Audra McDonald at Lincoln Center, Jason Danieley at Birdland and Joe's Pub, Kelli O'Hara at Joe's Pub and Lincoln Center's Allen Room. He also works with JERSEY BOYS' Tony winner John Lloyd Young.
A spry 33, Dan Lipton has already covered acres of musical ground and is poised for career longevity. Or something like that. Can you tell he's tired of writing about himself in the third person?? Jeez, self-promotion's a bitch! The albums TRAVELOGUE, LIFE IN PICTURES, ZEITGEIST and JUKEBOX SALOON are all available at CD Baby.
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