Steven Cravis

Infobox musical artist
Name = Steven Cravis


Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born = 1967

Instrument = Piano
Genre = New Age
Classical
Occupation =
Years_active = 1991 - present
Label =
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.stevencravis.com/ www.stevencravis.com]

Steven Cravis (born 1967) is an American composer and pianist, playing new age, easy listening, mood/relaxation music, and contemporary instrumental.

Background

Steven Cravis was raised in eastern Massachusetts. At age seven, after playing piano completely by ear for a year, he asked his parents for piano lessons. He learned the piano for three months before his first recital. He was honored for having made the most progress that year. He learned the basics of classical piano for four years, supplementing his learning by rote.

At home, his father always played jazz records, fostering a love for jazz. After requesting a jazz piece at the age of 11, his piano teacher saw that he could benefit from jazz-specific lessons and he switched to a jazz teacher. Over the next several years, he learned music theory, especially how it applied to jazz, and developed a very skilled ear for improvisation. He took lessons from several Boston area jazz teachers (including Ran Blake, Peter Cassino, Sandi Peaslee, and Jeff Leonard) over six years to get different perspectives on jazz theory, styles, and improvisation techniques.

Career

One of his favorite pianists was George Winston. He learned how to play several of his pieces, first starting with George Winston’s compositions and then adding his own improvisations to his music. By about age 17, he started composing his own original piano pieces which were very similar to the George Winston and Windham Hill style. At this time he was also very intrigued by harpist Andreas Vollenweider and started applying a harp/string like quality to his piano playing and compositions. All the while, he still enjoyed playing jazz standards, such as "Take the A Train" and "Misty", with more traditional jazz improvisation.

In 1992, he released his first CD, "True Reflections Solo Piano". He completed his second solo piano CD "The Sound of Light Solo Piano" in 1995.

Discography

* 1992 "True Reflections"
* 1995 "The Sound of Light"
* 2004 "Lavender Dreams"

References

*
* [http://www.solopianopublications.com/reviews/cravis.htm Reviews at Solo Piano Publications]
* [http://www.musicdish.com/mag/index.php3?id=1588 Review at MusicDish.com]

External links

* [http://www.stevencravis.com Steven Cravis official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/officialstevencravis"Official MySpace Page:" Steven Cravis]