Geoffrey Keezer (born November 20, 1970) is an Americanjazz pianist. In 2023, he won the Best Instrumental Composition Grammy^[1] forRefuge

Keezer was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager, playing piano forArt Blakey at age 18 and touring withJoshua Redman,Benny Golson andRay Brown in his 20s. He has toured withDavid Sanborn,Chris Botti,Joe Locke andChristian McBride and worked with vocalistDenise Donatelli, receiving Grammy Award nominations, and releasing albums influenced byHawaiian,Okinawan, andAfro-Peruvian folk traditions.

His 2009 albumÁurea was nominated for a Grammy Award for BestLatin Jazz Album;^[2] in 2010 he was nominated for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for "Don't Explain" on Denise Donatelli's albumWhen Lights Are Low.^[2] In 2013 Keezer released his first solo piano album in 13 years,Heart of the Piano (Motéma Music).

Born inEau Claire, the son of Mary Ann Graham, a professional French Horn player, and Ronald Willard Keezer, a composer/percussionist and member of the music faculty at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Eau Claire,^[3][4] Geoff Keezer attended Putnam Heights Elementary School,^[5]South Junior High School,^[6] andMemorial High School, graduating in 1988.^[7]

In 1989, after attendingBerklee College of Music for one year, Keezer joinedArt Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, becoming the last pianist to join the band.^[8] He composed and arranged original music for the group, with which he remained until Blakey's death in 1990. Keezer's debut album as a leader,Waiting in the Wings (Sunnyside) came out in 1989.

Keezer joined theArt Farmer Quartet in 1990. The band performed at major North American jazz festivals and jazz clubs. Keezer served as musical director and arranger from 1994 to 1995. In 1997, Keezer became a member of bassistRay Brown's trio. He toured the world with Brown, performing at clubs and major festivals in North America, Japan, Europe and the Middle East. The Ray Brown Trio played concerts with the Israel Philharmonic; the Radio Orchestra of Munich at the Weiner Konzerthaus and Conservatory in Vienna, Austria; and at Lincoln Center in New York City.

During the 1990s, he toured with The Key Players, featuringMulgrew Miller,James Williams,Harold Mabern &Donald Brown;^[9] a performance of Gershwin'sRhapsody in Blue with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra;^[10] a concert with theGerry Mulligan Quartet at London's Albert Hall; a concert at Lincoln Center with Art Farmer andWynton Marsalis; and performances with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, theSlide Hampton All-Stars,Dizzy Gillespie,J. J. Johnson and many others. He also traveled many times to Japan, where he played with Ray BrownMichael Brecker,Pat Metheny andKenny Burrell.

His second album,Curveball, came out in 1990 and featuredVictor Lewis on drums;Charnett Moffett on bass andSteve Nelson on vibes. He returned the next year withHere & Now (Somethin' Else, 1991); followed byWorld Music (DIW, 1992);Other Spheres (DIW, 1993);Trio (Sackville, 1995); a duet album withHarold Mabern calledFor Phineas (Sackville, 1996); andTurn Up the Quiet (Sony, 1997), which featured rising starsDiana Krall,Joshua Redman andChristian McBride. Keezer also appeared on many albums as a sideman.

From 2000 to 2009 Keezer performed on keyboards and piano in the Christian McBride Band. The band toured North America, Europe and Japan. Keezer contributed original compositions and arrangement. Concurrently, starting in 2002, Keezer joined saxophonistTim Garland's Storms/Nocturnes project.^[11] The band played throughout the United Kingdom, including at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London; the Hollywell Music Room in Oxford; the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester; and at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. In 2004, Keezer traveled to Lima, Peru, to play withMaria Schneider. This visit to Peru would later provide the inspiration for his GRAMMY-nominated albumAurea.

The following year saw Keezer again touring the world, this time with saxophonistDavid Sanborn.^[12] Then in 2007, Keezer began playing with Grammy Award-winning trumpeterChris Botti, a relationship that continues to this day. That same year, Keezer received a grant from Chamber Music America to develop a new jazz work.^[13] In 2009, Keezer joined the band of fellow Art Blakey alumnusWayne Shorter, subbing for an injuredDanilo Perez. Keezer played at the Playboy Jazz Festival and at festivals in Ottawa and Montreal as a member of the Wayne Shorter Quartet.^[14]

His albums include the solo piano recordingZero One (Dreyfus, 2000), as well asSublime: Honoring the Music of Hank Jones (Telarc, 2003), a series of duets with pianistsKenny Barron,Chick Corea,Benny Green and Mulgrew Miller. Other albums includeFalling Up (Maxjazz, 2003) with Hawaiian slack key guitaristKeola Beamer;Free Association (ArtistShare, 2005) with guitaristJim Hall;Wildcrafted: Live at the Dakota (MaxJazz, 2005);Live in Seattle (Origin, 2006); an album with Okinawan singer Yasukatsu Oshima; a collaboration withelectronica artist Mary Acheta calledThe Near Forever (2009); andÁurea (ArtistShare, 2009), which was nominated for a 2009Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album.^[2]

In 2010, Keezer was nominated for his second Grammy Award, forBest Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), for the track "Don't Explain" onDenise Donatelli'sWhen Lights Are Low. From 2012 to 2013, Keezer played concerts in Hawaii and across North America as part of the "Malama Ko Aloha" tour featuring Hawaiian slack-key guitarist Keola Beamer and native American flute playerR. Carlos Nakai.^[15]

Recordings from this period includeMill Creek Road (SBE, 2011);Via (Origin, 2011) with Joe Locke on vibes and Tim Garland on saxophone;Signing (Motéma, 2012) also with Locke; and his latest solo piano recording,Heart of the Piano (Motéma, 2013).

Since 2016, Keezer has frequently performed with his wife, vocalistGillian Margot.^{[4][16][17][18][19]}

Keezer appeared on German television in 1989 with Art Blakey. In 1995, he appeared on NBC'sToday Show as part of theTerence Blanchard Quintet. In the late 1990s, he played on German, French and Swiss TV as a member of the Ray Brown Trio. In 2000, he joinedIngrid Jensen on BET'sJazz Central Station. Keezer appeared on Japan's NHK in 2005 during their coverage of that year's Tokyo Jazz Festival. In 2012, Keezer played on ABC'sGood Morning America andThe View in a band with Chris Botti and country starVince Gill.^[20]

Keezer is a jazz faculty member at theJuilliard School^[21]

He has taught master classes at theBrubeck Institute, theRoyal Academy of Music, theThelonious Monk Institute of Jazz,The New School, theStanford Jazz Workshop,Indiana University,Michigan State University, theJazzschool, Jazz Aspen, theAmsterdam College for the Arts, theGuildhall School of Music andThe Hartt School of Music.

He also has five online courses with the online jazz lessons platform, Open Studio, "Open During Construction", "Jazz Piano Essentials", "Keez to Jazz Piano", "Advanced Jazz Piano Concepts", and "Elements of Solo Piano" .^[22]

WithArt Blakey

• Chippin' In (Timeless, 1990)
• One for All (A&M, 1990)

WithRonnie Cuber

• The Scene is Clean (Milestone 1993)
• Airplay (Steeplechase 1994)

WithRay Brown

• Summertime: Ray Brown Trio with Ulf Wakenius (Telarc, 1997)^[30]
• Christmas Songs with The Ray Brown Trio (Telarc, 1999)^[31]
• Some of My Best Friends Are ... Piano Players (Telarc, 2000)^[32]
• Some of My Best Friends Are ... Trumpet Players (Telarc, 2000)^[33]
• Live At Starbucks (Telarc, 2001)
• Some of My Best Friends Are ... Singers (Telarc, 2002)^[34]
• Some of My Best Friends Are ... Guitarists (Telarc, 2002)^[35]
• Walk On: The Final Ray Brown Trio Recording, and Previously Unreleased Recordings (Telarc, 2003)^[36]

WithArt Farmer

• Soul Eyes (Enja, 1991)
• The Company I Keep (Arabesque, 1994) withTom Harrell
• The Meaning of Art (Arabesque, 1995)
• Silk Road (Arabesque, 1997)

WithRicky Ford

• Hard Groovin' (Muse, 1989)

WithBenny Golson

• Tenor Legacy (Arkadia Jazz, 1996 [1998])
• One Day, Forever (Arkadia Jazz, 1996 [2001])

WithChristian McBride

• Vertical Vision (Warner Bros., 2002)

With Yasukatsu Oshima

• Yasukatsu Oshima with Geoffrey Keezer (Sony Japan, 2007)

With Yvonnick Prené

• Jobim's World (Sunnyside Records, 2024)^[37]

• Geoffrey Keezer atIMDb
• Official site

• 1970 births
• ArtistShare artists
• American jazz pianists
• American male jazz pianists
• Blue Note Records artists
• Grammy Award winners
• Living people
• Motéma Music artists
• People from Eau Claire, Wisconsin
• Sackville Records artists
• Sunnyside Records artists
• Telarc Records artists
• The Jazz Messengers members
• 20th-century American male musicians
• 21st-century American male musicians

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