He sings, he plays piano, he likes to help people learn about music.

He started playing piano at age three. He studied music all his life. He got a Masters Degree in classical piano. He has been in a zillion bands - from American garage to full-on symphonic mayhem. Swing and be-bop are his passion and he loves duos and accompanying vocalists. He also does some live ambient improv, and a far-out project with Naim Satya called Swinging without a Net - bass and voice solamente. He loves bluegrass, but doesn't pick. He reveres Joni Mitchell. He digs Bill Evans, and John Adams' operas. He is enraptured by the music of Mozart and Astor Piazzolla. Anita O'Day rocked, blessings on her. He moved to SF in 2005, where he taught, gigged, and rode his mountain bike. (The secret's out: SF has singletrack!)

He lived in mountain wilderness for years. He cleared a 1/4-mile road two feet-deep with snow with a grain shovel in two days. Three times. He rode a mountain bike. He can saddle and ride a horse,but can't skate worth a darn. He remembers where he was when JFK was shot. 1968 broke his heart. Once he saved a kid from drowning, once a cop saved him from freezing. He danced for a few years and toured with a modern-ballet company. A beautiful woman named Joclyn healed his blown knee with her hands. His
sister taught him how to do the "Hustle." He learnt to kiss from a boy named Mark. These experiences shape my songs and improvisations.

Music has an amazing power to heal and to move us toward love and compassion - he knows this empirically. The greatest joy is in watching the light go on in someone he is teaching or playing for. That's groovy.

He also finished and published a jazz piano method book this year, "The Road to Aqaba - Practice
Strategies for the Jazz Pianist" (available at Dharma Jazz Music  ). He has started teaching master classes and workshops with that - the next is at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, September 9-10. AND - He is the founder and president of the Rico Peace Garden, an annual festival in Rico, Colorado, that focuses on developing peace in ourselves and our communities. Check out Ricopeacegarden.

If you would like to see more of his work, visit his site at Www.stevesnelling.com