Teaching Topics and Philosophy

Topics: Basics of jazz piano, including building chord voicings and improvising using guide tones and chord/scale theory; comping; transcription; deepening a fulfilling improvisation practice. Specialties include accompanying vocalists and jazz piano skills for vocalists wanting to accompany themselves.

Philosophy: As musicians, we are all on the same road to becoming fluent and understandable in this improvised language. I am here to guide newer musicians with what I’ve learned and with some of the guidance that has been passed down to me. 

BIOGRAPHY:

Armed with a vivid imagination and the chops on two instruments (piano and voice) to support it, Lauren Lee is a unique force to be reckoned with. Her command over her influences and technique is powerful enough to attract brand new audiences to jazz because she does not sound like anyone you have ever heard before. Her commitment to the tradition is embedded in learning from the masters, not copying them. 

She has released three records as a leader to date, starting with The Consciousness Test (self-released) in 2016, followed by Windowsill (ears and eyes records) in 2019, and The Queen of Cups (ears and eyes records) in 2021. With each record, she was afforded significant touring opportunities across Europe, Canada, and the US and has performed at the Stockholm Jazz Festival, the UNCOOL Festival (notably spearheaded by Marshall Allen and the Sun Ra Arkestra), Riga Jazz Stage, the Berkshires Jazz Festival, and the Queens Jazz Overground Festival. Recording and touring have been made possible with generous support from New Music USA, Artist Tree, The Doris Duke Foundation, South Arts/Jazz Road, The New York Foundation for the Arts, and The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable. 

Lauren has notably worked with some of the finest creative minds in the industry, including Kenny Werner, Don Friedman, Karl Berger and Ingrid Sertso, Gil Goldstein, and others.