Al Rodriguez Trio
CONTACT

ABOUT

Al grew up in a family surrounded by music. His parents’ eclectic listening tastes varied from classical, 50’s and 60’s rock & roll, to the standards (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, etc.).

From an early age, he and his siblings performed in the school choir. However, it wasn’t until Al was in the sixth grade that his itch to play organ/piano surfaced. “Our choir director/music teacher played the piano. In his music classes he would have us watch reels of film with Leonard Bernstein and his symphony orchestra demonstrating various musical forms. Well, that knocked me out and it was the catalyst for me to learn the piano."

"I was 16 years old when my brothers and I started a Top 40 dance band with our father serving as manager and booking agent. Years later, a musician friend introduced me to jazz, via the Dave Brubeck Quartet with Paul Desmond.”

Although Brubeck was Al’s introduction to jazz piano, he quickly discovered Bill Evans and yearned to play in that “hip jazz vein”. That quickly grew into other discoveries: Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Alan Broadbent, Cedar Walton, George Shearing as well as other myriad instrumentalists.

"It was an era when my musician friends and I had endeavored to assimilate all the phenomenal jazz recordings and live performances available to us...a time when jazz had became the fulcrum of my musical life."

However, survival, one of life’s stark realities, prompted Al to avail himself of whatever musical gigs emerged: country, rock, Top 40 and jazz.

During the 70s, 80s and late-90s, while working in other musical genres, he performed solo (opening for Tony Bennett's performance at the Westin La Paloma Resort Hotel for the Dupont Company), had a working jazz trio and was part of a jazz sextet, Ascension (opening for one of comedian Martin Mulls' University of Arizona performances in Tucson).

In the mid-90s, Tucson saw a decline in gigs and Al was put in the unenviable position of finding alternate employment. There was, however, a silver lining: he landed a company transfer to the San Francisco Bay Area where he has lived for the past 20 years.

Update: Al moved back to Tucson on August 1, 2016 and is seeking to reconnect with his old musician friends as well as making new friends and, of course, plugging into the local jazz scene.

Screen name:
AlRodriguezPianist
Member since:
Jun 13 2011
Active over 1 month ago
Level of commitment:
Very Committed
Years together:
40
Gigs played:
Over 100
Age:
70 years

Influences

Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Alan Broadbent, Cedar Walton, George Shearing as well as other myriad instrumentalists.