WNAMM13: Jordan Rudess Endorsing Live

ILIO has been in touch to tell us that world-renowned keyboard giants Mike Garson, Jordan Rudess and Nick Smith will appear at the NAMM show, in the ILIO booth (Hall A, 6724). All will perform live on the new Ivory II virtual piano plug-ins by Synthogy. Here's the ILIO press release with the details:

Mike Garson is well known as the longtime keyboardist for David Bowie, and has since collaborated or appeared with such varied acts as Stanley Clarke, Stan Getz, Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins, and Nine Inch Nails, among others. His discography includes 17 solo albums and EPs, plus over 70 albums and recordings with other artists. In addition to his famed skills as a pianist, Garson is a prolific and acclaimed composer, having penned over 4,000 pieces of music, including concert works, jazz, and film scores. Mike and his jazz trio recently released his new 2-CD set called Wild Out West, available at www.mikegarson.com. Embracing the idea of the "Renaissance Man," Garson continually experiments with new ways through which he can communicate his humanistic ideals and hopes for the world in which he lives.

Keyboard Magazine voted Jordan Rudess 1994's Best New Talent in the Overall Best Keyboardist category and in a career that spans almost three decades, he appears on over 40 other recordings by numerous artists, including David Bowie and the Dixie Dregs.  Since 1999, Jordan Rudess has been an integral member of and creative driving force behind Dream Theater, one of the most critically acclaimed progressive hard rock bands in the world with over 10 million units sold. Jordan appears on six Dream Theater studio CDs and three Dream Theater Live CDs and DVDs, and his own eight solo albums. Jordan is also the founder of his own iPad and iPhone app development company, Wizdom Music, which produced the Billboard and Electronic Musician Award-winning music creation, MorphWiz.

Nick Smith, former keyboardist with the Tonight Show Band, was the keyboardist for Stanley Clarke for ten years. Nick has toured with various artists including Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Kenny Garrett, Michel Polnareff, Kirk Whalum, and Marcus Miller. Nick has scored for film and TV including such films as Brown Sugar, Eddie, and Sprung. In 2004, Nick released an independent Jazz CD project titled It's Like That, which features Stanley Clarke, Dennis Chambers and David Sanchez. Nick's philosophy on playing music is: Always play as if it is your last time playing; then leave them wanting more. Nick's dream for the future is to keep quality music alive.

During the NAMM Show in Anaheim, All three artists will appear at the ILIO booth, number 6724 in Hall A at the Synthogy stand at these times:

Thursday, Jan 24
Jordan Rudess: 11:00 to 12:00
Nick Smith:  1:00 to 2:00
Mike Garson: 2:30 to 3:30

Friday, Jan 25
Jordan Rudess: 11:00 to 12:00
Jordan Rudess: 1:00 to 1:30
Nick Smith: 2:00 to 3:00

Saturday, Jan 26
Nick Smith: 11:00 to 12:00
Jordan Rudess: 1:00 to 2:00
Mike Garson: 2:30 to 3:30

Sunday, Jan 27
Jordan Rudess: 11:00 to 12:00
Mike Garson: 1:00 to 2:00

Ivory II is Synthogy's first major upgrade to all of its Ivory virtual piano products since they were first launched. Significant improvements have been made to both the piano DSP engine and to the integrated sample libraries that come with the products. Ivory II – American Concert D, Ivory II – Grand Pianos, Ivory II – Italian Grand, and Ivory II – Upright Pianos are all available and shipping.

The Ivory II piano DSP engine includes many new features Synthogy customers have been requesting, including Harmonic Resonance Modeling for Sympathetic String Resonance, Half Pedaling, Pedal Noise, Lid Position, Timbre Shifting, Parametric EQ, Tuning Tables, and New Synth Layers with controls.

Ivory II – Grand Pianos and all Synthogy products are distributed in North America by ILIO, carrying the highest quality virtual instruments, sample libraries, and creative tools for professional musicians.

More information:

• ILIO