Ted Rosenthal

Born: 1959

Ted Rosenthal is one of the leading jazz pianist/composers of his generation. The New Yorker magazine describes him as “a musician’s musician who balances technique and taste.” The Los Angeles Times calls him “a pianist of rarest skill.” Rosenthal actively tours worldwide with his trio and as a soloist. He also has performed with many jazz greats, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and James Moody.

Winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, Rosenthal has released nineteen CDs as a leader, including a series of 4 new CDs in 2025, featuring his distinctive arrangements of the Great American Songbook, reimaginings of classical themes and original compositions. Rhapsody in Gershwin, which features his arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue for jazz trio, reached #1 in jazz album sales at iTunes and Amazon and received rave reviews: “A musical tour de force” - Audiophile Magazine. Wonderland, was selected as a New York Times holiday pick, and received much critical praise: “Sleek, chic and elegant” – Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune. Impromptu, showcases his reimaginings of classical themes for jazz trio. "A serious listen to Impromptu will be a mind-changing experience...sit back and enjoy these wonderfully creative takes on ten compositions from the classical canon that have never sounded so cool." - Elliott Simon, AllAboutJazz

High Standards

By Ted Rosenthal

Label: TMR Music
Released: 2025
Track listing: Jet Song; Skylark; Old Devil Moon; Everything Happens to Me; It Could Happen to You; To Life; One; Lover Man; The Cup Bearers.

Ted Rosenthal Trio: High Standards

by Dan Bilawsky
April 13, 2025

Ted Rosenthal has remarkably high standards. How else to explain his vast achievement(s) over the past four decades? This ace pianist and composer has done it all--topped the pack at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, worked with the cr��me de la cr��me (i.e., baritone saxophone icon Gerry Mulligan, alto saxophone legend Phil Woods, multi-hyphenate ...

Live at Mezzrow

By Ken Peplowski

Label: Cellar Music Group
Released: 2024
Track listing: Vignette; Prisoner of Love; Beautiful Love; All the Things You Are; Like Young; The Shadow of Your Smile; Cabin in the Sky; Bright Mississippi; Here��s to Life; Who Knows.

Ken Peplowski: Live at Mezzrow

by Jack Bowers
September 29, 2024

When one is diagnosed with multiple myeloma, as woodwind specialist Ken Peplowski was in June 2021, there are basically two alternatives: either accept the decision and throw in the towel or choose to fight and double down on doing what keeps you active and hopeful, in this case making beautiful music that swings. Obviously, as epitomized ...

Ken Peplowski: All the Things You Are

by John Chacona
July 17, 2024

Even if you are new to jazz, you have likely heard “All the Things You Are" dozens of times, maybe hundreds. But you have never heard it like this. Jerome Kern's tour through the circle of fifths, catnip for improvisers, is usually played as a mid-tempo stroll or faster, but it was written as a ballad ...

Introducing Pianist Esteban Castro

by Sanford Josephson
April 1, 2024

Esteban Castro's parents gave him a toy piano when he was three years old. “I would just kind of gravitate toward it a lot," he recalled. “When I was four, they rented a piano and started getting me lessons. I got into jazz because I would really enjoy improvising and composing when I started playing. I ...

Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration

By Ann Hampton Callaway

Label: Palmetto Records
Released: 2023
Track listing: Fever; Till There Was You; The Glory of Love; The Folks Who Live on the Hill; Sing a Rainbow; I Don't Know Enough About You; Clair de Lune; Black Coffee; I Love Being Here With You; Johnny Guitar; Where Can I Go Without You; This is A Very Special Day/It's a Good Day; Angels on Your Pillow.

Introducing Bassist Liany Mateo

by Sanford Josephson
October 9, 2023

Liany Mateo started playing the bass when she was 13 years old. “They opened up a performing arts school in Jersey City," she recalled. “At that time, I knew I wanted to play an instrument. I was into '70s punk music, and all of my favorite people in those bands were the (electric) bass players. I ...

Black Coffee

February 25, 2023

Album: Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration
By Ann Hampton Callaway
Label: Palmetto Records
Released: 2023
Duration: 03:44