Sarah Jane Cion
BIO:Sarah Jane Cion was the 1st Place Winner of the internationally acclaimed 17th Annual Great American Jazz Piano Competition held in Jacksonville Florida on November 11th, 1999. The judges were Horace Silver, Kenny Barron, Ellis Marsalis, Benny Green and Bill Charlap. Ms. Cion’s trio performed in Japan at the prestigious Fukuoka Blue Note for the month of January in 2000 and Sarah appeared on the Nationally syndicated NPR radio show “Piano Jazz” with Marian McPartland on February 8th, 2000. Sarah has performed with young and older jazz legends such as Clark Terry, Etta Jones, Anita O’Day, Della Griffin, Ralph Lalama, Alan Harris, Carmen Leggio, Dr. Lyn Christie, Bucky Pizzarelli, Don Braden, and many others. She is often found performing with New York City mainstay big bands such as the Lew Anderson Big Band at Birdland and is currently performing with bestselling author and tenor man James McBride. Her debut CD, Indeed! features alto saxophonist Antonio Hart, drummer Tony Reedus and other young jazz giants. Her second CD Moon Song was released internationally on the Naxos Jazz label in May of 2000 featuring Phil Palombi, Chris Potter and Billy Hart. Moon Song was the 4th best-selling Modern Jazz album in Japan in April 2000, and reached number 15 on the U.S. Gavin Reports on June 22nd, 2000. Her third CD, Summer Night was released in October of 2001, featuring saxophone giant Michael Brecker, and the reprise of Billy Hart and Phil Palombi. On February 25th, 2002, Summer Night reached number 12 on the Yellowdog Jazz Charts. The Sarah Jane Cion Trio was the opening act for the George Coleman Quartet at the Mellon Jazz Festival in Pittsburgh and her quartet was featured in the JVC Jazz Festival in New York City in June of ’98. In May of 1999, her trio headlined at the Kennedy Center for the prestigious Women In Jazz Festival. Her trio also performed at the Freihofer’s Jazz Festival in June of 2000, the Indy Jazz Festival, and Cion was featured as a solo pianist at the DuMaurier Atlantic Jazz Fest in Nova Scotia, Canada in July. The Sarah Jane Cion Trio was presented in concert by Savannah On Stage in March of 2001, and at the Smithsonian Institute-Voice of America Stage in Washington D.C. in May of 2001 PRESS:Sarah is a marvelous, marvelous, marvelous jazz piano player. She is young, talented, creative and imaginative. Watch out! —Clark Terry Sarah Jane is an outstanding composer and pianist who plays with pure imagination and beautiful taste. —Monty Alexander The music of Sarah Cion proclaims the arrival of a composer and pianist of the highest quality. —Renee Rosnes Sarah Jane Cion is a new talent to be acknowledged. Sarah”s compositions will establish her as an important voice in the traditional jazz world. —Rachel Z Sarah Jane Cion plays with a mature authority, and her compositions are both lyrical and strikingly original. —Larry Goldings Sarah Jane Cion is one of the major young talents on piano today and she is destined to become one of the more recognized jazz pianists of her time. —Jay Leonhart Indeed! is a very impressive debut recording-filled with first-rate playing, catchy arrangements and memorable compositions. —Fred Hersch |
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