Ted Kooshian
I was born in San Jose, California, and grew up in the Bay Area. I started playing piano in the 2nd grade, and started learning jazz in the 7th grade, after my music teacher played me a record of Oscar Peterson. I attended San Jose State College from 1979 through 1982, as a jazz performance music major. When I was in my mid-twenties I worked as a pianist on cruise ships, and traveled to the Far East, the South Pacific, Africa, the Caribbean, and some other places. In 1987 I moved to New York City.
Since then I have been working as a freelance musician, doing jazz gigs, recording, Broadway shows, Off-Broadway shows, cabaret concerts, a few tours, and some teaching. Some of the people I have worked with over the years are Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, Toni Braxton, Marvin Hamlisch, Sarah Brightman, and “Blood, Sweat, and Tears.” I was the pianist for the Broadway show “Aida” for a while, and I was the pianist for the short-lived Broadway show "In My Life." I have subbed on many other Broadway shows, including “The Lion King,” and “Mamma Mia.” I toured the Baltic States in 1998, playing jazz festivals in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. In 2007 I finished the BA degree in music I had begun in San Jose. After that I was the pianist for the last leg of the National Tour of the Broadway show "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." I have two CD’s out, and aside from my own groups, I am a member of several bands that play frequently in New York (see links and calendar).
Selected Discography:
Ted Kooshian “Ted Kooshian’s Standard Orbit Quartet”
Ted Kooshian “Clockwork”
Michael Andrew “A Swingerhead Christmas”
Ed Palermo Big Band “Plays The Music of Frank Zappa”
Ed Palermo Big Band “Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance”
Alexis P. Suter Band “Just Another Fool”
Judy Barnett “Swingin”
Judy Barnett “The Road to my Heart”
Judy Barnett “Too Darn Hot”
Rick Wald “Aural Heiroglyphics”
Rick Wald 16NYC “Castaneda’s Dreams”
Rick Wald 16NYC “Play That Thing”
Scott Whitfield “Speaking of Love”
Ray Marchica “A Different View”
various artists “Welcome to the Jazz Café”