My musical influences when I was growing up were primarily TV themes,
or music from movies I watched on TV.

After that, it was AM radio, where pop music was played in those days, and Broadway show tunes.
As a pianist, I was influenced by the records of Roger Williams playing Rhapsody In Blue

and Andrew Previn playing jazz arrangements of My Fair Lady.

My father had bought me a Fats Waller album when I was younger.

That and the Previn album were the only contacts I had to jazz.

I played bastardized stride piano because of hearing Waller
and the style of a friend of my father’s who used to come over
to our house and play piano.

In junior high school a friend plaed the John Coltrane record “My Favorite Things” for me

and I hated it.

My attention span was way too short for that music and to my ears, there was no melody.

Even today when I am asked who my influences were, I usually say Chico Marx

Jimmy Durante

and Victor Borge

(Jimmy Durante and Victor Borge had TV shows, you know.)

Who did you listen to growing up?

Feel free to leave your comments here!

Get Your Own Copy of
Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery book & CD
or
Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery DVD
by using our Secure Nimbit WebStore below:

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

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Kenny Werner Trio is currently in California, on tour with special guest Toots Thielemans!

The current Trio lineup features Kenny Werner on piano, with a rhythm section of Scott Colley on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums.

Maybe you saw them this last weekend in San Diego, at Anthology.
Voted San Diego’s Best Live Music Venue and Restaurant, Anthology, is a perfect duet of tastes and sounds.

This week, Toots and the Kenny Werner Trio play at the World-Famous Jazz Club and Restaurant, Yoshi’s;
they are playing both the San Francisco (Nov. 11, 12, 13) and Oakland (Nov. 14, 15, 16) locations.

Monday, November 17th, Kenny Werner Trio with special guest Toots Thielemans
are in Santa Cruz, California, at Kuumbwa Jazz, a Nonprofit Jazz Concert and Education Organization since 1975.

November is certainly a busy month for Kenny!

On Wednesday, November 19th, Kenny is back teaching at NYU,
then off to Dublin, Ireland and London, England for teaching and concerts.

Tuesday, November 25th = NYU, then down to Philadelphia on Friday, November 28th.

Look for another Effortless Mastery Telewebinar on Sunday, November 30th
(Thanksgiving weekend here in the U.S.).

To keep up with Kenny year-round, please click on the link below:
http://kennywernerlive.com/kenny-werner-calendar

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

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Here’s your weekly Kenny Werner Video!

This one’s from New York City,
May 2008
“Waiting”

Personnel:
Russ Nolan, saxophone
Kenny Werner, piano
Johannes Weidenmueller, bass
Ronen Itzik, drums

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

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“Most Popular Guy”

Up until the time I graduated from High School,  I had a free ride of sorts.

Althought I had very little success scholastically, I had even less athletically.
I was a total couch potato and suffered from great lethargy.  In the summers,
when all the kids would go to camp or elsewhere, I would stay in the house
next to the air conditioner.  The TV and refrigerator kept me company all summer.
I felt isolated and numb emotionally.  I was the only kid who came back from summer
vacation with paler skin than when school ended!

I had no outstanding physical attributes, nothing that distinguished me from the other students.
I would have been a total loser in school but for one thing–I could play the piano.
And I could play very well.  I started playing at seven, and by eight, I was playing for assembly.
At nine years old I was playing gigs.

I made absolutely no impression on my fellow students until I’d sit down to play.
Then the world changed completely.  I was it!  Mr. “Bad” himself!  The athletes,
who wouldn’t know I existed, suddenly put their arms around me and proclaimed me their friend.
The greasers (motorcycle types) would just as soon beat me up as talk to me, but if I played them
a tune they liked, they became my protectors; (”don’t mess with my brother Kenny–or I’ll kill you!”).

The girls, oh how I wanted them to notice me!  They could be very cruel.
But if I was in the middle of the party cranking something out on the piano, there would always
be one girl who would emerge with that soulful smile and tell me how much they loved my playing.
That was okay with me, as long as I was loved and admired for something!

I was the best player wherever I went.  This masked the despair and self-loathing I felt.
I depended heavily on my playing for a sense of self worth.  It came so easily to me that it was
hard for people to believe that I was malfunctioning.  If I was failing at everything else,
it was okay because people could point to the way I played, as if to say I was all right.
I even felt guilty and loathsome for the free ride.

Does this sound familiar?

Have you ever felt like your self-worth was tied to your playing
or your musicianship?

Feel free to leave your comments here!

Get Your Own Copy of
Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery book & CD
or
Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery DVD
by using our Secure Nimbit WebStore below:

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

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Here’s your weekly Kenny Werner Video!

This one’s from New York City,
May 2008
“Naima”

Personnel:
Russ Nolan, saxophone
Kenny Werner, piano
Johannes Weidenmueller, bass
Ronen Itzik, drums

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

Here’s your weekly Kenny Werner Video!

This one’s from France,
February 6, 1995
“Concert à la luna”

Personnel:
Toots Thielemans
Kenny Werner
Adam Nussbaum
Jay Anderson

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

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Here’s your weekly Kenny Werner Video!

Recorded July 4th (Independence Day here in the U.S.), 2004
Live at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City.

The tune is “The Little Blue Man.”

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

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Kenny’s schedule for October is PACKED,
and he probably won’t have time for another call
until November.

Join us this Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Go to this web page

and

Ask Your Question Now:

Kenny Werner’s Effortless Mastery TeleWebinar #003

See you Monday!

On Saturday, September 13th, Kenny Werner will perform

as a Guest Artist with Ann Hampton Callaway

at the 2008 PRASAD Benefit Golf Tournament

in Upstate New York.

Since 1996, PRASAD Children’s Dental Health Program (PRASAD CDHP),

which is located in Sullivan County, N.Y., has provided dental care services

and dental health education to children from low-income families in New York State.

PRASAD Children’s Dental Health Program is an initiative of The PRASAD Project,

an international not-for-profit organization committed to improving the quality of life

of economically disadvantaged people around the world.

Here’s the link to the event:

2008 PRASAD CDHP Benefit Golf Tournament Special Performance Guests

Thank you for being here as part of our Effortless Mastery Community.

To Your Effortless Mastery,

Kenny Werner
and
Dr. Andrew Colyer

KennyWernerLive.com
and
ConsciousWorldMedia.com

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