Producer Plays
'Silent' Jazz

hen he was only 13 years old, famed Hollywood director Mark Rydell often snuck out of his parents' Bronx home at night and headed to 52nd Street to hear Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, and other jazz giants play. "I'd give the doorman five bucks to sit in the back and listen at the curtain. Then I'd take the subway back, get home at 4 a.m., and go to school in the morning. It's a testimonial to the power of that music," he says. Though Rydell once aspired to a career as a jazz pianist, he became a successful director instead: his films On Golden Pond, The Rose, The Reivers and others have earned 28 Oscar nominations. Rydell portrays studio mogul Jack Warner in his new movie, James Dean, which aired on TNT in August.

Mark Rydell

Last spring, when he came into New York City for three months to act in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending, Rydell made an exciting musical discovery - the Yamaha Disklavier® GranTouch™ piano. "It was such an important companion for me, as I was alone with no family in town, but at least I had my piano. I had no idea such a thing existed."

"The GranTouch™ is remarkable for its real piano action – and it takes up no space."

The fortuitous meeting between Rydell and the Disklavier came about at the suggestion of Rydell's old friend David Abell of Keyboard Concepts in Van Nuys, CA. "He told me to get in touch with James Steeber at Yamaha Artist Services to get a piano to use in New York," Rydell explains. "The GranTouch is remarkable for its real piano action - and it takes up no space."

"When Mark first called, he said, 'I've got to have a piano under my fingers or I'll go crazy,'" says Steeber. "He especially enjoyed the Disklavier's 'silent' feature, and when I showed him how to record himself, he was thrilled."

Rydell studied at Chicago Musical College and The Juilliard School of Music, and says Dave Grusin, John Williams, and his other high-profile musical directors appreciate his musical background. "Usually music is the only thing a director can't control," he laughs, "but not me. We sit together, play together, choose themes together."

And, though Rydell has owned a Yamaha C7 conservatory grand piano for many years, he's set his sights on a Disklavier GranTouch for his home office. "I can use the silent feature and play whenever I feel like it."