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Eugene Portman (jazz pianist)
Eugene
was classically trained and was taught the piano by Brendan Murray. He won
many music festivals and competitions but he really wanted to learn how
to improvise and become a jazz pianist like his heroes Erroll Garner, Dudley
Moore and Oscar Peterson. However he did stick to his classical training
and this has been a wonderful foundation for him to develope his own style
of playing.Eugene joined the Tony Strudwick Band when he was eighteen and gradually managed to make the really difficult switch from classical music to popular music and later to jazz. For a number of years Eugene did quite a lot of classical work along side his performing in the jazz world. One of these jobs lasted for four years and involved working for the Royal Ballet School and the Royal Ballet Company.
One of the things that makes Eugene stand out from most other jazz pianists is his ability to perform solo. A lot of jazz pianists are great in a combo situation but are completely lost when it comes to solo piano. Eugene's classical training together with his love for pianists such as Oscar Peterson, Teddy Wilson and Erroll Garner have enabled Eugene to become an accomplished solo performer. Since those days Eugene has been able to devote himself purely to jazz and his work takes him all over the UK and abroad.
The last six years have seen quite a lot of developements in Eugene's career. One of the most important things is the collaboration between him and four superb jazz singers. They are: David Edwards from East Grinstead, West Sussex; Alice Harvey from Derby; Sheila Daniels from Cheam, Surrey and Steve Conway from Basingstoke, Hampshire. These singers gelled straight away with Eugene and they all now have very busy performance schedules. Meanwile, while all this was going on, the Eugene Portman Trio was formed. It didn't take long before each of the singers then started to perform with the trio and this format has now become increasingly popular for weddings, corporate events and parties.