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Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles Rudes; November 4, 1956) is an American keyboardist, composer, and software developer, best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.
Rudess was born in 1956 in Great Neck, New York. His mother was the director of a music management company in Sea Cliff, New York, while his father owned a New York clothing manufacturer.
He was recognized by his second-grade teacher for his piano playing and was immediately given professional instruction. At nine, he entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training, where his first theory instructor was future collaborator Joseph Lyons. He studied at Juilliard for seven years under Katherine Parker and Adele Marcus.
By his late teens, Rudess had developed an increasing interest in synthesizers and progressive rock music, citing his first experience in the genre as the Hammond playing and distorted stylistic expression of Jon Lord. Against the advice of his parents and tutors, he turned away from classical piano and pursued a career as a solo progressive rock keyboardist.
After Juilliard, one of his first bands was an "electronic space music band" called Complex. Formed by Rudess and former Juilliard instructor Joseph Lyons, along with Sal Gallina, they began playing college radio and house concerts. In January 1977, the band performed at Hansen Galleries in New York City. "This is music of real interest and vitality, more rhythmic and popularly appealing than most so-called 'serious' music," said the New York Times of the performance, "yet never so blatantly exploitive as to arouse real cynicism." That spring, the band Ocean Star released an album featuring music by Complex. That summer, Rudess accompanied Lyons for a residency at the Lexington Conservatory Theatre in Lexington, NY. Rudess served as assistant musical director and co-composed scores for the theater productions with Lyons, including the world premiere of The Prevalence of Mrs. Seale by Otis Bigelow. The duo also performed a series of concerts for the Earful concert series throughout the summer.
When Bleu Ocean was assembling a team of fellow drummers to perform on the song "Bring the Boys Back Home," featured on Pink Floyd's The Wall, he invited Rudess for the sessions, since Rudess had played drums as a child. However, Rudess's performance was rejected by producer Bob Ezrin. At that time, Rudess had already chosen keyboards as his main instrument.
Rudess was part of a studio project assembled by bubblegum pop impresarios Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, who were also behind The Ohio Express and The 1910 Fruitgum Company. In 1980, they ventured into album-oriented rock with Speedway Boulevard, which also featured touring members of Ram Jam. The group never performed live and disbanded shortly after the album's release.
After participating in various projects during the 1980s, he gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted "Best New Talent" in the Keyboard Magazine readers' poll following the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands that took notice of Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily because being a part-time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family, a choice he was not given with Dream Theater.
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Jordan Rudess
Jordan Rudess (born Jordan Charles Rudes; November 4, 1956) is an American keyboardist, composer, and software developer, best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.
Rudess was born in 1956 in Great Neck, New York. His mother was the director of a music management company in Sea Cliff, New York, while his father owned a New York clothing manufacturer.
He was recognized by his second-grade teacher for his piano playing and was immediately given professional instruction. At nine, he entered the Juilliard School of Music Pre-College Division for classical piano training, where his first theory instructor was future collaborator Joseph Lyons. He studied at Juilliard for seven years under Katherine Parker and Adele Marcus.
By his late teens, Rudess had developed an increasing interest in synthesizers and progressive rock music, citing his first experience in the genre as the Hammond playing and distorted stylistic expression of Jon Lord. Against the advice of his parents and tutors, he turned away from classical piano and pursued a career as a solo progressive rock keyboardist.
After Juilliard, one of his first bands was an "electronic space music band" called Complex. Formed by Rudess and former Juilliard instructor Joseph Lyons, along with Sal Gallina, they began playing college radio and house concerts. In January 1977, the band performed at Hansen Galleries in New York City. "This is music of real interest and vitality, more rhythmic and popularly appealing than most so-called 'serious' music," said the New York Times of the performance, "yet never so blatantly exploitive as to arouse real cynicism." That spring, the band Ocean Star released an album featuring music by Complex. That summer, Rudess accompanied Lyons for a residency at the Lexington Conservatory Theatre in Lexington, NY. Rudess served as assistant musical director and co-composed scores for the theater productions with Lyons, including the world premiere of The Prevalence of Mrs. Seale by Otis Bigelow. The duo also performed a series of concerts for the Earful concert series throughout the summer.
When Bleu Ocean was assembling a team of fellow drummers to perform on the song "Bring the Boys Back Home," featured on Pink Floyd's The Wall, he invited Rudess for the sessions, since Rudess had played drums as a child. However, Rudess's performance was rejected by producer Bob Ezrin. At that time, Rudess had already chosen keyboards as his main instrument.
Rudess was part of a studio project assembled by bubblegum pop impresarios Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, who were also behind The Ohio Express and The 1910 Fruitgum Company. In 1980, they ventured into album-oriented rock with Speedway Boulevard, which also featured touring members of Ram Jam. The group never performed live and disbanded shortly after the album's release.
After participating in various projects during the 1980s, he gained international attention in 1994 when he was voted "Best New Talent" in the Keyboard Magazine readers' poll following the release of his Listen solo album. Two of the bands that took notice of Rudess were The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater, both of whom invited him to join. Rudess chose the Dregs, primarily because being a part-time member of the band would have less of an impact on his young family, a choice he was not given with Dream Theater.