Biography:
Mark Shane

Mark Shane began his professional career as a pianist in dance bands in the metropolitan New York Area. His jazz influences came from the recordings of the masters: Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson, Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Benny Goodman.

During an extended tenure as house pianist in New York’s “Eddie Condon’s” jazz club, Mark added a distinctive new voice to the Condon tradition of hot ensemble playing and, at the same time, developed his solo jazz piano style through exposure to the masterworks of James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. He has worked with Benny Goodman and with many all-star alumni from the great bands of Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. A partial list of these jazz stars includes: Doc Cheatham, Buck Clayton, Wild Bill Davison, Ruby Braff, Vic Dickenson, Bob Wilber, Kenny Davern, Benny Goodman, Buddy Tate, Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, Peanuts Hucko, Flip Phillips, Jack Lesberg, Ed Polcer, Bobby Rosengarden, Warren Vache, Jr., and Earle Warren.

Mark has been featured on radio and television jazz special broadcasts and has appeared as a featured soloist at major jazz festivals throughout the world. He has toured with the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble under the direction of Bob Wilber, and was featured in the 50th Anniversary Benny Goodman memorial concert at Carnegie Hall. Mark has played jazz piano for the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, as well as for the Grammy-Award-winning soundtrack of the film “The Cotton Club.” Other film work includes the soundtracks to “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “Biloxi Blues,” “Working Girl,” and other films made for television. During the Carnegie Hall 100th Anniversary Celebration, he accompanied hosts Beverly Sills and Barbara Walters. In 1989, Mark played a Royal Command performance for HRH Princess Anne in London’s Festival Hall.

Featured with the Peter Duchin and Lester Lanin Orchestras, Mark Shane has played for society and debutante cotillions throughout the United States, for Presidential Inaugural Balls in Washington, D.C., and for the Mayor of New York City at Gracie Mansion. He has also played private parties for Mikhail Gorbbachev, Henry Kissinger, Estee Lauder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and for openings and fund raising events at major libraries, museums and cultural centers throughout the United States. Corporate audiences such as IBM, AT&T and others have also enjoyed Mark’s piano in New York’s finest hotels and clubs, including the Waldorf-Astoria, Plaza, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, 21 Club and others.

Mark Shane’s piano reflects a true sense of living jazz history and continues the tradition of buoyant swing and lyrical melodic improvisation which is CLASSIC JAZZ PIANO, America’s unique musical contribution to world culture. He lives in Walden, NY with his wife, Alice.