Biography
Speaking of concert pianist Torrey Hall, world renowned entertainment icon Tony Sandler (of Sandler & Young fame) said of him "He's a man with a musical soul!" When he was yet but two months old, Torrey's mother took him to a classical symphony concert, remarking later that "whenever the orchestra played a series of melancholy chords of rich color, the small child would begin crying as if his heart were breaking." Other audience members also took notice of it and later concurred with his mother that indeed, the baby boy was a musician at heart.
Trained as a classical artist by the nation's best pedagogues and pianists, Mr. Hall began playing piano in public at the age of four. His early teachers quickly noticed his witty improvisations in jazz chording, rhythms, and progressions, using simple tunes and melodies, which they encouraged.
Over the years, Torrey has performed throughout the United States in recitals, concerts, and other music venues. He has appeared at theaters, jazz clubs, colleges, universities, and religious institutions including churches and synagogues. He has performed on radio and television, and has played for prominent dignitaries and heads of state in Washington DC and Israel . In 1992 he performed for prime minister Yitzhak Shamir in Jerusalem , an internationally televised event.
While many artists keep to one music genre, Torrey seems as much at ease with classical or sacred / ethnic music as he is playing jazz standards and Broadway show tunes. Standing six feet two inches tall, one of Juilliard's piano alumni, David Kaiserman, said that when Torrey plays, "he should be able to shake the foundations of a building." That keyboard power is felt when listening to his newly released album BACKSTAGE WITH TORREY HALL, especially on Climb Every Mountain. Yet his light touch remains afloat on songs like Love Is Here To Stay.
Torrey's personality surfaces in his own works on this album. You'll catch his humor in Lunch Hour, his jazz pulse in Charades, or his retrospection in Blue Carousel, a seemingly endless round of progressions that continue to resolve again and again. Reflecting upon the pianist who held most influence upon his growing musical mind, the artist defers to the incomparable Don Shirley, whom Torrey borrows from on the Gershwin tunes, using some intro's and one transcription of a Shirley arrangement. Following a long hiatus from both piano and public performance while raising his two musically gifted sons, Jared and Jordan, Mr. Hall has finally returned to the music he loves, which expresses the many emotions of heart and soul. His own thoughts about music were expressed in interview when he said: "Music is a strange and wonderful phenomena. It carries you away from the present and pulls you into the past, or flings you far into the future."
As a fellow performer and musician, I can attest to the fascinating power of music, for after all, I was Duke Ellington's bass player for years. And now, it's my pleasure to introduce a close friend and musical comrade, pianist Torrey Hall. Enjoy!
Jeff Castleman, String Bass
Duke Ellington Orchestra