Roger Kellaway has more than 200 albums in his discography. He has worked with everyone, from Elvis to Ellington to Dizzy Gillespie, Yo-Yo Ma to Yo-Yo Ma to Joni Mitchell, Quincy Jones and Mancini to Michael Tilson Thomas. Kellaway is not just a great pianist. He is also a prolific composer with protean abilities. He writes in the fields of jazz, classical, and pop music, and scores for television and films. Some call his “Cello Quartet” albums “crossover”, “chamber music” or “new age”. They were among a diverse array of projects that began in the 1960’s. Roger was commissioned to create a ballet for George Balanchine, the New York City Ballet and orchestral pieces for Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National Symphony. He also composed a concerto called “Songs of Ascent” that Zubin Mehta, the conductor of the New York Philharmonic. He composed a number of chamber works for Carnegie Hall performances, and was musical director for Stephane Grappelli’s 80th Birthday Tribute. This event included Yo-Yo Ma’s first entry in Jazz. Later, Roger, Yo-Yo, and Stephane traveled together to Paris. Kellaway was the one who wrote all arrangements for their album “Anything Goes”. Roger was born November 1, 1939 in Waban, Massachusetts. At the age of 7, he fell in love and started studying the piano. He was 12 years old when he began to listen to both jazz and classical music. This led him to decide that music was the way he wanted to live his entire life. Newton High School was at the time the third-ranked high school in America. He studied college music theory and played double bass and percussion in a school orchestra. The school performed works by Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. He was also a bass player in an extracurricular jazz band. He attended high school and went to the New England Conservatory, where he studied composition, double bass, piano, and double bass. He left the conservatory after two years to travel the world playing bass. He settled in New York City in 1960 and began freelancing as a pianist. He was 22 years old when he became one of New York’s most well-respected pianists. He played record dates, performed in jazz clubs and worked with singers like Lena Horne. He loved recordings with Wes Montgomery and Oliver Nelson, Clark Terry, Ben Webster, Clark Terry, and Ben Webster.
