Colin Hancock; c, arr, dir - Lior Kreindler; tp / David Connelly; tp / Rishi Verma; tb / Kieran Loehr; as, cl / Stephen Newcomb; as, bar, cl / Troy Anderson; ts, cl / Uche Chukwukere; vl / Robbert Van Renesse; bj / Christina Li; p / Sarah Cohn-Manick; tu / Noah Li; dms - special guest Edward Clute; p

Recorded Saturday, September 15, 2018, Watkins Glen, NY at the home of Ed Clute. Video courtesy of Brian Earl.

The Cornell Syncopators paid a visit to jazz veteran Ed Clute in Watkins Glen, NY. Clute has been playing piano since the age of three. He attended the Batavia School for the Blind where he learned how to read Braille music. During the summers of 1964-1968, Ed was enrolled at the Amherst Summer Music Center where he studied Music History and was also a pupil of the late Edwin Hymovitz. He was guest artist with the Amherst Summer Music Center Youth Orchestra performing the Schuman A Minor Piano Concerto, Op. 54. In 1968, Ed graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music where he studied classical piano performance under the late Howard Godding and spent the next three years studying privately with classical pianist Jean Casadesus. While under the tutelage of Mr. Casadesus, Ed also had the opportunity to perform a master-class with Jean’s father Robert Casadesus. After the tragic death of his teacher Jean Casadesus, Ed sought out the musical support and mentorship of professors Ronald Regal and Joseph Tague from Ithaca College. Ed has performed classical two-piano works with other local pianists and enjoyed his many performances of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Ithaca Chamber Orchestra and other Civic Orchestras. Recently, Ed was a guest soloist at the Schumann Festival Gala where he performed for members of the Schumann (Personius) family.

As a Dixieland and Stride pianist, Mr. Clute has played in many jazz bands, including his own – Ed Clute and the Dixie Five Plus, and has performed for the last 30 years in local Jazz festivals such as the Suncoast Jazz Classic in Clearwater, Florida and the Finger Lakes Jazz Festival in Hector, New York. Ithaca residents have enjoyed Ed’s music and his collaboration with clarinetist Brian Earle, vocalist Diana Leigh and members of Djug Django in the annual Porch Fest concert series. In 2010 and 2011, Ed was an accompanist for the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Camp under the direction of Banu Gibson and was the pianist for the Louis Armstrong Festival with trumpeter Wendell Brunious. He has had the pleasure of sitting in with Benny Goodman and Turk Murphy.

Ed is actively performing at various venues in the Watkins Glen, Ithaca and Elmira area and also maintains his own piano tuning business. During his free time, Ed is a member of the Savage Club and the Watkins-Montour Lion’s Club.

(info courtesy of Clute's Facebook Page)

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