Biography of Dominic Alldis

Dominic Alldis is a jazz musician, arranger and composer living in London. He was born into a family of classical musicians, his mother a violinist and his father the renowned choral conductor John Alldis.

He began piano lessons at the age of 6 and quickly discovered a passion for jazz and improvisation, playing his first gigs when he was 15. In 1982, at the age of 19, he moved to Paris and continued his musical studies while performing on the Paris jazz scene. Two years later he returned to the UK to become resident-pianist at London’s premiere jazz-cabaret venue, Pizza on the Park. During a two-year residency he played opposite many of the world's leading cabaret entertainers (Blossom Dearie, Dave Frishberg, Bob Dorough) and jazz pianists (Teddy Wilson, Dave McKenna and Roger Kellaway). Since then he has gone on to establish an impressive musical career which straddles the worlds of jazz and classical music: while continuing to be in demand as a jazz performer, he also conducts orchestras and has led a number of cross-over musical projects.

In 1996 he launched the record label, Canzona Music, to record a series of vocal-jazz albums: Turn Out The Stars (the songs of Bill Evans), If Love Were All (the songs of Noël Coward), Watch What Happens (the songs of Michel Legrand, Themes from French Cinema and Scenes We Once Knew (a celebration of the vocal styles of Mel Torme, Blossom Dearie & Shirley Horn). His latest album, Songs We Heard, features a series of improvisations for piano trio on nursery rhymes from around the world.

Since 1993, Dominic has taught improvisation to classical pianists at the Royal Academy of Music and in 2000 he was made an Honorary Associate of the RAM. In 2009 he became a Steinway Artist.