Roberta Piket

{{Short description|American jazz pianist, organist, and composer}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Roberta Piket

| image =

| caption =

| image_size =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1965}}

| birth_place = Queens, New York, U.S.

| instrument = Piano, organ

| genre = Jazz

| occupation = Musician, composer, arranger

| years_active = 1990s–present

| label =

| associated_acts =

| website = [http://robertajazz.com/ robertajazz.com]

}}

Roberta Piket (born 1965) is an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and arranger.{{cite web|url=http://robertajazz.com/uncategorized/hey-wikipedia-and-331dot-i-was-born-in-1965/|title=Hey Wikipedia|publisher=robertajazz.com|date=July 11, 2015|author=Roberta Piket|accessdate=2015-07-11}}

Life and career

Piket was born in Queens, New York,Jackson, Grant (February 26, 2011) [https://www.npr.org/2011/02/25/134083853/roberta-piket-on-piano-jazz "Roberta Piket on Piano Jazz"]. npr. in 1965. Her father was composer Frederick Piket. She started playing the piano at the age of 7 and moved to jazz in her early teens. A university joint double-degree program led to her receiving a computer science degree from Tufts University and a jazz studies degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. While at university, she took private lessons from Stanley Cowell, Fred Hersch, Jim McNeely, and Bob Moses.

Her first album as leader was Unbroken Line, recorded for Criss Cross in 1996.Dryden, Ken [http://www.allmusic.com/album/unbroken-line-mw0000031166 "AllMusic Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2015. Her first album for a U.S. label was in 1999: Live at the Blue Note, for Half Note.Dryden, Ken [http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-the-blue-note-mw0000244067 "AllMusic Review"]. AllMusic. Retrieved July 5, 2015. The 2003 release I'm Back in Therapy and It's All Your Fault was Piket's first with her Alternating Current ensemble.Graybow, Steven (March 8, 2003) "Jazz Notes". Billboard 115/10. p. 17. This band was formed after she acquired an electric piano to use in venues that did not have an acoustic piano and then discovered that it did not suit her trio but made her think of new types of music to play.

On Billy Mintz's 2014 album Mintz Quartet, Piket played piano, organ, and sang on one track.Farberman, Brad (February 2014) "Billy Mintz/John Gross/Roberta Piket/Putter Smith – Mintz Quartet". DownBeat. p. 92. She had done the same thing for her earlier album, Sides, Colors, which also included several tracks she arranged for wind instruments, horn instruments, and strings.Doerschuk, Robert L. (June 2011) "Roberta Piket – Beyond the Trio". DownBeat. p. 21. She was named Rising Star – Organ by DownBeat critics in 2018.{{cite magazine |date=August 2018 |title=66th Annual Critics Poll Complete Results|magazine=DownBeat |pages=59}}

Playing style

The DownBeat reviewer of Emanation (Solo: Volume 2) commented on the absence of a "steady pulse, stride or walking bass" in her solo piano playing; "Instead, she establishes momentum through a rhythmic motif [...and] keeps things moving through more intricate alterations between her hands".Doerschuk, Bob (August 2015) "Roberta Piket – Emanation (Solo: Volume 2)". DownBeat. p. 89.

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

=As leader/co-leader=

class="wikitable sortable"

!Year recorded

!Title

!Label

!Personnel/Notes

1996

|Unbroken Line

|Criss Cross

|Most tracks quintet, with Donny McCaslin (tenor sax, soprano sax), Scott Wendholt (trumpet), Michael Formanek (bass), Jeff Williams (drums); some tracks sextet, with Javon Jackson (tenor sax) added

1999

|Live at the Blue Note

|Half Note

|With Harvie Swartz (bass), Jeff Williams (drums), John O'Gallagher (alto sax, soprano sax)

2000*

|Speak, Memory

|Fresh Sound New Talent

|With Masa Kamaguchi (bass), Jeff Williams (drums)

2000

|Midnight in Manhattan

|Meldac

|Trio, with Michael Formanek (bass), Jeff Williams (drums)