Ed Pastorini is a New York pianist and composer straddling the line between popular song, art song, jazz and improvisation.  He tells of being classically-trained, but draws on unusual jazz harmonies to write piano-based pieces that sound like he once sang along with saxophone solos... I’ve always found his solo piano songs to be extraordinary little works of art, full of unexpected chord changes and an emotive quality that creeps up on you, they seem to come from several traditions at once – or none at all.
-Jon Schaefer WNYC New Sounds
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I'd often heard myths about Ed Pastorini long before I experienced the music... The music, whether soft or loud, demands that one pay attention — and if you choose to do so, you will experience a serious adventure into the soul... Highest recommendation, my friends  -Hal Willner
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Pastorini studied as a young man with Lennie Tristano, the free form Bach-inspired founder of the first school of jazz in New York City.  Pastorini's compositions are written in a harmonic language that often have more to do with Bartok, Stravinsky or Ligeti, than conventional jazz harmony.
-Thomas Bartlett, Salon.com
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Ed Pastorini has recorded and performed extensively through Europe, North America and Asia, both as a solo artist and ensemble leader.  He has been commissioned to create scores for film, theater and prose - most recently for an impressionistic series on Anton Webern.  
 
An active educator, Ed Pastorini
offers piano instruction in New York City, working with artists who wish to expand their musicianship and break out of repetitive patterns through ear training, chord weaving, improvisation, theory and analysis, technical development and composition study.  Weekly or bi-weekly lessons are available.