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"Jon Weber is a virtuoso, pure and simple."
It's a wonderful thing when jazz insiders from all over the
world enthusiastically discover an intelligent, creative young
talent like Jon Weber. A spectacular solo pianist, his brilliantly
crafted spontaneous orchestrations easily place him in the
rarefied company of today's elite jazz musicians.
Jon's mother recalls, "When he wasn't riding
his bike, solving math problems, or memorizing things,
he was in the breezeway replaying Dr. Suess and Bugs
Bunny records, changing the chords every time. He'd
invent a different arrangement each time he played a
tune, improvising, quoting; shuffling the deck. It was
always like a game for him."
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The youngest of 7 children, Jon's musical passion (plus
absolute pitch and recall) surfaced at age 3 on a toy
organ. By 6, he internalized 2000 standards from his
Grandma's piano rolls.
Monica and Jon Weber |
By age 19, Jon's jazz quintet (all original
music) had opened up for Pat Metheney, Buddy Rich,
Freddie Hubbard, Angela Bofil, and Stanley Turrentine
at various major summer jazz festivals
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As a teenager, Jon prodigiously scribbled musical ideas
on every piece of paper available. Multiple-clef orchestrations
penciled upon hundreds of envelopes, notebooks (and
occasionally actual staff paper), filled his room and
schoolbooks.
Incredibly, Jon expanded his repertoire
and developed his craft without studying piano or composition.
In fact, he never saw chord symbols before joining the
Mark Kleckley Big Band at 16. Perhaps the absence of
musical "rules" kept Jon's young mind open
and ever creative. He spent his teen years developing
counterpoint in his left hand by playing guitar (during
a 2-year hiatus from piano). But ultimately realized
his greatest joy was at the keyboard composing and arranging
for all types of ensembles including the Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra.
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