“I’ve always considered music to be a bridge to the spirit world…I perceive music with an architectural bent — add and subtract — everything is connected.” – Lawrence Sieberth
Pianist, composer, and producer Lawrence Sieberth is at home in virtually any musical setting. While based in jazz, Lawrence’s musical vision is not limited by genre barriers—he prefers to integrate the many facets of music and performance into an engaging, inclusive experience. His own neo-bop improvisations and experimental inclinations combine with his classical and world music influences providing an extensive musical vocabulary for both performances and compositions for television, film, and stage.
Lawrence Sieberth’s transcendent 2009 album New New Orleans finds him literally center stage, a solo piano set wherein traditional New Orleans jazz pieces get a brilliant surveying with some judicious modern overtones sprinkled throughout them. That same year saw the far side of the spectrum via Arkipelago, an album exploring the area(s) where the ethereal overlaps with the earthy, where fevered fantasy coalesces with funk, the Second Line strolls Alpha Centauri. In the most recent album ‘It’s Magic’ in collaboration with singer Germaine Bazzle, Sieberth’s exemplary skills as accompanist come to the fore—songs such as “Bye Bye Blackbird” and “Sophisticated Lady” are not merely covered but made anew, the notes dangling from his fingertips as if they were dipped in honey.
His local ensembles vary from New Orleans traditional to questing improvisations, from the avant-garde to mainstream jazz and R&B. He has performed at virtually every venue in New Orleans, from small clubs to the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival where he has been a regular featured artist and musical director of over 30 years. His collaborations with notable local performers include: Johhny Adams, Charles Neville, Leslie Smith, Tony Dagradi, Jeremy Davenport, John Vidacovich, Luther Kent, Leah Chase, Topsy Chapman, Herlin Riley, Brian ‘Breeze’ Cayolle, Victor Goines, and Jason Marsalis.
He presently performs and tours with Gerald French & the Original Tuxedo Jazzband, Germaine Bazzle, and Lena Prima (daughter of the legendary Louis Prima) with whom has just released a Christmas cd playing duo with Lena on vocals
Lawrence Sieberth has been a commissioner on the Louisiana Music Commission and was honored by New Orleans Magazine (1998) as outstanding contemporary jazz pianist. His CD Heartstrings was chosen by Jazziz (1995) in their ‘Keyboards on Fire’ special issue. Lawrence has received numerous grants including the Louisiana Artist Fellowship Award and the 2009 Asante Award and is a recent recipient of the Community Partnership Grant sponsored by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Movie Appearance Credits:
Dukes of Hazard as pianist with Willie Nelson
Green Lantern as pianist as well as arranger of music
Bessie as pianist – HBO
Productions credits include:
Music Director for Hats: the Musical
Music Director and Arranger of The Joint’s Jumpin,’ a New Orleans R&B Revue
Music Director and Arranger of The Warehouse Revisited, a rock retrospective
Bessie: HBO films featuring Queen Latifah – music director, arranger and pianist
Selected discography as featured artist/producer:
Live at Gino’s – I Migliori – performer/producer (1991)
Heartstrings – composer/performer/producer (1995)
New New Orleans – solo piano (2008)
Arkipelago – composer/performer/producer/synth programming (2008)
Jay’s Dream – Lawrence Sieberth Quartet
Old Times – Lawrence Sieberth Quintet
It’s Magic – Germaine Bazzle – producer/pianist (2014)
Performed with: Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Joanne “BJ” Crosby (Dreamgirls & Smokey Joe’s Cafe), Frank Gratowski, Hamid Drake, Eddie Harris, David Amram, Roseanna Vitro, Newport Jazz All-Stars, The Funk Brothers with Tom Scott, Badal Roy, Carlos Malta, Maria Marquez, Marl Growden, Aashish Khan, Randy Brecker, Lew Soloff, The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Corpus Christi Symphony, and the Baton Rouge Symphony.
Performances at international venues include: Ascona Jazz Festival, Dusseldorf Festival of Jazz, Birmingham Jazz Festival, Washington D.C. July 4th Celebration, Ingolstadt Jazztage, Oslo Jazz Festival, Pensacola Jazzfest, Cancun Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall, Steigenberger Hotel (Davos, Switzerland), Hotel Cariari (San Jose, Costa Rica), Hot Springs Music Festival, Rainfest at Punta Leona, Costa Rica, Salt Lake City Jazz Festival, Bourbon Street Club & Festival (Sao Paolo, Brazil)
Compositional Achievements:
Booker & Black – a multimedia collaboration with Jon Graubarth honoring the music of James Booker and James Black Theme composer for Brandon Tartikoff’s Big Time TV children’s show
Composer of soundtrack for the 1996 Olympic Passing of the Torch
Composer of numerous soundtracks – Discovery Films (New York Film Festival documentary winner)
Compositional collaboration with Dicky Landry for the Robert Wilson Modern Dance Co. performed in Taipei
Musical Director and arranger for Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Robert Parker and other New Orleans R&B legends for New Orleans Jazzfest Foundation Gala 2009
Lawrence Sieberth was formerly adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies at both the University of New Orleans and Loyola University at New Orleans, teaching courses in jazz piano, theory, arranging and improvisation. Lawrence Sieberth attended Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA. with Alvin Batiste(1975); Loyola University New Orleans, La. (1976), and Hartt College, Hartford, CT (1977).
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