“A prediction for the coming year (or two) - you will soon know the name of local pianist, Jeff Baumeister” - Ken Weiss, Philadelphia Correspondent, Cadence Magazine

Pianist Jeff Baumeister teaches music theory, ear training and jazz improvisation at Bucks County Community College. As a freelance writer, his transcription and analysis essays are frequently featured in DownBeat magazine. In 2004, he received the prestigious Cultural Incentive Grant from the Bucks County Community College Foundation to record his original compositions for jazz quartet. This recording, titled “Useful Music,” became his debut CD as a leader and was acknowledged as Editor’s Choice, Best of 2005 - New Discoveries, and Publisher's Top Picks for 2005 by All About Jazz.com , and was selected Top Ten Best Albums Of 2005 by Jazz Views.com.

Jeff earned degrees in jazz studies from William Paterson University and The University of the Arts. His teachers include, Uri Caine, Tom Lawton, Don Glanden and Jim McNeely. He studied classical piano with Sam Bellardo, and composing and arranging with McNeely and Manny Albam at the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop in NYC. He was awarded the Eubie Blake Scholarship and the Bernard Peiffer Jazz Piano Award for Excellence, Creativity, and Dedication to Jazz Piano. Jeff lives in Huntingdon Valley, PA with his wife, Karen, and daughter, Annemarie, and dog, Maggie. Recent performances include appearences with Dick Oatts, Larry McKenna, Rick Stepton and Terrell Stafford.

Wahbo Records
is a musicians’ collective independent micro label dedicated to documenting creatively distinctive new works in classical, jazz and improvised music.

are available at;

itunes
cadence
the jazz loft
cd baby
amazon
jazsound - philly's greatest music store

Many thanks to all our friends in these cities for purchasing Useful Music.

Ochsenhausen, Germany
Tokyo, Japan
Saitama-City, Japan
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Emilia Romagna Region, Italy
Helsinki, Finland
Nijmegen, Netherlands
São Luís Island, Brazil

and of course, to all our friends in the USA and Canada -

Thanks for your support.

full reviews,
jazz cd reviews
jazz reviews
all about jazz
word press
cadence, jazz improv, philly inquirer, and others

jeff at All About Jazz

"Congratulations to you and your saxophonist! Your music is world-class."- Mark C. Gridley (author of Jazz Styles: History And Analysis, Prentice Hall)

"Baumeister is completely original, with a fresh take on free/avant garde jazz that is challenging yet eminently listenable. An example of the terrific music coming out of Philadelphia's thriving jazz scene. "
- Tony Rogers, Jazz CD Reviews.com

“Completely captivating and with a certain aesthetic connection to classic ECM piano recordings, Useful Music has all the potential to be a classic in its own right. Baumeister’s writing, while evoking its deceptively gentle veneer, is more structurally rich than its antecedents, making it a completely modern take on an established aesthetic.
- John Kelman, All About Jazz.com

"The organic lucidity that animates each of Baumeister's composition is the real treasure of Useful Music and a compelling reason to return to this album again and again"
- Dimitry Ekshtut, Jazz Improv Magazine

“Useful Music is moody, detailed, and unique. The quartet weaves in and out of changes with subtlety and grace on this spectacular set of originals. Highly recommended.”
- Andrew Ciccone, Sound of Market Street

“This is my favorite sort of jazz approach,
really smart and burning.”
- John Anthony, audio engineer, Maja Audio Group

“Improvised music that has the lyricism of the best composed music of the last century - wonderfully mysterious - a beautiful, clear recorded sound, live and personal.”
- David Demsey, saxophonist, Coordinator of Jazz Studies, William Paterson University

"Useful Music is an album that combines the cerebral to the hot playing in colorful, modern and high aesthetics."
- Vangelis Aragiannis, Jazz & Tzaz , Greece

“Exploratory yet rooted, oblique yet lyrical, dark but playful, all rendered with synergetic group interplay.”
-Tom Lawton, pianist and composer, Dreambox Media

“I really enjoyed this cd! Great songs and great playing,
Check it out!"
-Uri Caine, pianist and composer, Winter and Winter