Jazz Pianist Jeff Franzel : Virtually Personable !

March 24, 2022 by

Songwriter, composer, musician and native New Yorker Jeff Franzel who performs with Jazz at his core, is coming off his latest project- a song entitled “Lonely People,”  which he has a co-writing credit on.

Jeff Franzel Smiles at the Piano-photo by Ron Fontenot-courtesy of the artist

Smiling at the Piano / photo by Ron Fontenot / courtesy of the artist

Brooklyn Roads was fortunate enough to speak with Franzel on the development of his song and his passion driven career thus far.

Jeff Franzel With The Big Piano-photo by Ron Fontenot-courtesy of the artist

Jeff Franzel At The Big Piano /photo by Ron Fontenot /courtesy of the artist

Franzel first began his career as a Jazz pianist, touring with many groups such as Les Brown, and has played accompaniment to some of the greats in the industry, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Mel Tormé.

Franzel said he has been listening to Jazz and Pop music as long as he can remember, and how the love for  listening turned into a love for creating.

“I grew up listening to jazz and pop music. I remember listening every Tuesday to Cousin Brucie’s top 40 songs,” said Franzel. “I studied with a jazz teacher named John Mehegan at age 11 and he taught the basics of jazz improvisation which carry over to my songwriting.”

Jeff Franzel Hitting The Keys-photo by Ron Fontenot- courtesy of the artist

Jeff Franzel Hits The Keys /photo by Ron Fontenot / courtesy of the artist

 

With musical influences like Billy Joel, The Beatles, Carole King, Elton John and more, Franzel made the decision to play music for a living around age fourteen, when he first became heavily involved with music.“I started playing gigs with rock bands around 13 years old and just knew that I always had a strong passion of music,” expressed Franzel.

The creation of his latest song ,“Lonely People”, came to be over the last ten months or so with a collaboration of many musical influences. “I wrote the song last May, 2021 on Zoom with Shelly Mcerlaine and John Adams,” said Franzel. “John came up with the title and concept and I started to find the mood and melody on the piano of ‘is there anyone out there’ and we spent the full day writing the song.” Written for the artist Imen Siar, semi-finalist on the reality TV show Britain’s Got Talent, the song was produced by legendary rock band Florence and the Machine. The final song has since been recorded in Italian and Arabic, and the official music video starring Siar was released on March 18, 2022.

With a flourishing return of live and in person shows all across the country and globe, Franzel is excited to announce planned shows over the next few months. Catch him performing in person at The Triad Theater on 72nd Street on May 13, 2022,  a solo piano concert in Montreal on June 3 and at Joe’s Pub on June 15, 2022.