20 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011

Players `
Michael
Kaeshammer
Hitting His Stride
M
ichael Kaeshammer grew up harboring a
musical secret. To his friends, he was a
decent garage-band drummer and a card-car-
rying member of the AC/DC fan club. But
he had a nimble-fngered alter ego, spending
hours a day at the piano emulating his musician
father, who owned a substantial collection of
boogie-woogie records. Young Kaeshammer
was a piano prodigy and no one knew it.
That all changed at age 16, when one of his
school teachers caught wind of his hidden tal-
ent and blew his cover in class. I felt so embar-
rassed, just because I didnt think it was cool,
Kaeshammer recalled.
These days, Kaeshammer wears his early
infuences proudly on his sleeve. His pop-tinted
2011 release, Kaeshammer, and 2009`s Lovelight
(both on Alert Music) are laced with spirited
stride solos and New Orleans-style grooves la
Art Tatum and James Booker. Thats just home
to me, musically speaking, he said.
Kaeshammer, who is currently based in
Toronto, has built a reputation across North
America as a gifted pianist and a stylish sing-
er, not to mention an affable showman. His for-
midable chops and accessible tunes draw large
crowds at jazz festivals and garner comparisons
to crossover stars like Harry Connick Jr. and
Jamie Cullum. His joy on stage is palpable.
But Kaeshammers upbeat music belies a
period of personal reckoning during which self-
doubt, loneliness and a feeling of ostracism from
jazz peers almost led him to give up his career
entirely. Take Rendezvous, the foot-stomp-
ing opener on his latest album. In the song,
Kaeshammer coolly offers a helping hand to
a friend in need. He said the friend he had in
mind when he penned the lyrics was Michael
Kaeshammer, circa 2006.
I felt it was very personal for me to go, Im
going through some stuff in my life and Im
gonna let you knowto say it in the third person
felt a lot easier, Kaeshammer explained. That
song was a little bit of therapy for me.
Kaeshammer, 34, began his career as a teen
sensation, traveling with his father on weekends
to play solo gigs around his native Germany. He
moved to Vancouver Island, Canada, at age 18
and cut his teeth playing blues and boogie-woo-
gie standards at clubs.
There, Kaeshammer began to explore bebop
and other styles but became preoccupied with
others opinions of his playing. When youre
younger on the jazz scene starting out, theres a
lot of judgment, he said. Kaeshammer also suf-
fered from a growing sense of listlessness about
performing. It just became a gig, a joblike
going to the bank and being a teller.
If there was a silver lining, though, its that
Kaeshammers solution to his doldrums did
more than merely ward off thoughts of early
retirementit transformed him as an artist. He
began to write stream-of-consciousness journal
entries every morning, later turning his thoughts
into lyrics. Composing his own songs became a
way to deal with his personal blues. It also added
another arrow to his musical quiver: vocal talent.
Kaeshammer found further artistic inspira-
tion in New Orleans, where he lived prior to
Hurricane Katrina. 'I remember the frst time
I went, just reading the street names gave me
chills, he said. I started having memories of all
these songs I used to listen to.
During what was supposed to be a two-week
visit, he fell into a weekly fve-hour gig on
Bourbon Street with singer Marva Wright. He
ended up staying nine months. The weekly ses-
sions sharpened his sense of groove, but perhaps
more importantly, they reinforced the need to
express himself emotionally in his playing.
At the time, I liked to show off with stuff
that I was doing on the piano, Kaeshammer
said. I remember Marva saying, I see you can
play. Why are you playing what you play? Is
there a deeper meaning to what you do?
For Kaeshammer, that musical raison dtre
was a desire to make worthwhile connec-
tions with audiences. It led him to embrace the
unabashed playfulness of his favorite musicians.
You look at Louis Armstrong stuff, and that
guys putting on a show, he said. When I go see
shows, I dont have to be entertained, but I like
feeling a connection with whats going on.
Drummer Johnny Vidacovich, a New
Orleans player whos appeared on several albums
with Kaeshammer over the years, praised the
pianists magnetism in performance settings.
He totally hypnotizes the crowd in every pos-
sible way without sacrifcing integrity, without
sacrifcing musicality, Vidacovich said. 'He
has a great sense of humor in his playing, and
he plays the piano like I would like to play the
drums. Eric Bishop