Steven Cravis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Steven Cravis | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1967 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | New Age Classical |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Years active | 1991 - present |
| Website | www.stevencravis.com |
Steven Cravis (b. 1967) is an American composer and pianist, playing new age, easy listening, mood/relaxation music, and contemporary instrumental.
Contents |
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
