GEOFF KEEZER : Teen Learns to Solo as Blakey Protege

In September, 1989, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, the oldest continuously active small group in jazz, hired a new pianist, Geoffrey Graham Keezer. It was an honor for the 18-year-old alumnus of Berklee College of Music, particularly since this was his first real full-time job.

As it turned out, he was Blakey’s final pianist. A year later, the 71-year-old drummer died in a New York hospital, without having had a chance to hear “Here and Now,” Keezer’s first solo album, recorded for Blue Note less than two weeks earlier.

Keezer, now 21, had not come to the Blakey assignment unprepared.

“I guess it was inevitable that I’d be in music,” the Eau Claire, Wis., native says. “My parents were both music educators--my father was a percussionist teaching at college; my mother played French horn and was a high school music teacher. I studied with her and played in my dad’s band when I was about 14.”

At 17, Keezer began his studies at Berklee in Boston. “During that period I spent a lot of time in New York,” he says. “One night James Williams, who had played piano with the Messengers in the late ‘70s, introduced me to Art Blakey. Art heard me and wanted me to join right then, but I had other commitments, such as finishing out my year in Berklee.”

Encouraged by Williams (who would later produce “Here and Now”) and Benny Green, his predecessor in the Blakey band, the teen-ager made rapid headway, with Blakey as a source of endless encouragement.

Asked whether he had learned from Blakey about music, about the piano, about life, Keezer says: “All three. In effect he taught me how to play solo piano just by leaving me alone on the bandstand at the end of the set. Experience is the best teacher. Until I got to know Art, I had never known anyone who had such a total commitment, such a deep involvement with what he was doing. He transferred some of that to me, I guess.”

The Blakey incumbency introduced Keezer to the jazz world in the United States, Europe and Japan. Since the Messengers disbanded, he has been active in several areas as sideman, leader and composer.

“I’ve played with Art Farmer, a great trumpeter and a pleasure to work for,” Keezer says. “I’ve gigged with my own group, using this fine young vibes player, Steve Nelson, who was on my album. And I’ve been experimenting with composition, trying to write some classical stuff--brass quintets, a mini-flute concerto. I guess you could say I’m mainly self-taught as a writer.”

Keezer has been lucky to enjoy some instructive experiences at a stage when many musicians’ careers have barely begun.