MAINSTAY - Jazz Pianist Dick Durham
The Mainstay is excited to welcome back the extraordinary jazz pianist Dick Durham and his group. Durham, one of The Mainstay’s most requested performers, is an annual visitor to the 26-year old non-profit music venue. Dick will be joined onstage by Max Murray on upright bass, Greg Burrows on drums, and E. Shawn Qaissaunee on guitar.
After his discharge from the army Durham put a trio together and started playing clubs again, most memorably as an opening act for the Count Basie Orchestra. Dick credits jazz pianists Errol Garner, Oscar Peterson, and Teddy Wilson as his major influences. He has had the privilege of sharing a bill with Stanley Turrentine, Grover Washington Jr., Billy Cobham, Stef Scaggiari and many others.
His compositions have earned him two separate Maryland Governor’s Citations for excellence in the performing arts, and his jazz variations on the scores of musicals like “West Side Story” have earned standing ovations.