Primarily known for her
acoustic work, Roberta Piket
brings a 'vintage electric
'Wurlitzer and a new sound
to Ann Arbor and
Detroit Public Radio.
Roberta Piket:
"1 think jazz filim
arc excited when
inusicians try
something new.''
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News
rmed with a degree in jazz studies from the
New England Conservatory of Music and a
computer science degree from Boston's
Tufts University, Roberta Piket had a dilem-
ma: which career to follow.
Being practical, she selected to use the latter degree.
But after working only one year as a software engineer
for a computer equipment company, she returned to
her real love: music.
Since that career change, Piket, the daughter of a
professional composer of Jewish liturgical music, has
been recognized as one of t h e finest jazz pianists and
composers in the music industry.
She'll bring her new group, Roberta Piket &
Alternating Current, to the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor
Saturday, May 10. On Sunday, May 11, they'll play a
live Detroit Public Radio performance, from 8-9:30
p.m., on WDET-FM (101.9-FM).
"I really wasn't happy on the computer job, and I
realized I wanted to focus on music full time," reflect-
ed Piket, in her 30s and single.
In recent years, eager to explore a new sonic palette,
Picket "got a Wurlitzer electric piano and put together
[Alternating Current], an electric band.
"I started hearing completely new music in my head
because of this new sound, and it inspired me in a dif-
ferent direction," she said.
Prior to her work on the electric piano, Piket prima-
rily was known for her progressive and swinging mod-
ern acoustic piano work. In addition to her solo piano
projects, Piket's unique musical voice has been heard
with the Roberta Picket Trio, performing her original
compositions and personalized reworkings of standards.
Her piano trio discography includes Live at the Blue
Note, named one of the five best of the year in 1999
by JazzTimes, and Speak, Memory, chosen one of the
10 best of 2000 by two critics in JazzIz.
Currently, though, she's focusing on her work with
electric piano, which has been called a "box with piano
action, specially amplified, and complemented by
tastefully chosen effects pedals."
"In a way, using the Wurlitzer is a lot freer than the
acoustic piano because there is less of a defined concept
of what the music is supposed to sound like," said Piket.
"I think jazz fans are excited when musicians try
something new. Whatever influences you bring into
your music, they are still a part of who you are, as long
as you utilize them in an honest and inventive way,"
she said. "And electric pianos are easy to get in and out
of many venues that don't have an acoustic piano."
Other members of Alternating Current, all based in
New York, are guitarist Bruce Arnold, bassist Steve
Lucas and drummer Kirk Driscoll.
The group has been described as "boasting a retro-
futurist vibe" to mesh with Piket's "harmonically
adventurous sensibility." They put a lot of fusion, hard
JAZZY LADY on page 65