About Jim

 

As the musician

That was me in New York in 2007, just before I moved West in '08.  I was new to Albuquerque, but no stranger to pianos, having been playing, tuning, repairing, and loving pianos since I was just about old enough to say "arpeggio".  Back in the day I studied both piano performance and piano technology at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and since then I've enjoyed a musical freelance career that has included schools, studios, churches and lots of individuals, in a variety of capacities. From 2002-2007 I was keyboardist/MD for guitarist "Esteban."  Here in Albuquerque, I've enjoyed finding my way into local jazz venues and playing with some very talented folks.  For about ten years I enjoyed playing a very cool pipe/digital hybrid organ at Monte Vista Church every Sunday (Nob Hill), and from 2013-16, coordinated a series of experimental jazz vespers called Faith, Hope and Jazz.  In August of 2019 I became the organist/accompanist at St. John's UMC, where I work with director Matt Greer and a very fine and nice sized choir.  I enjoy the opportunities this town has offered me as a pianist, performing regularly (and teaching improvisation classes) at Outpost, the Albuquerque Museum (NM Jazz Workshop), with the AJO (Albuquerque Jazz Orchestra), and even occasional Pops concerts with the NM Philharmonic (once in 2015 and once in 2016).

 

As the tuner

OK, now about tuning, which is why you are reading this in the first place!  I was always interesting in piano tuning, even as a teenager.  I learned tuning formally at the New England Conservatory of Music under the late Frank Hansen, tuner for the Boston Symphony and highly regarded in the Boston area.  Before returning to New York I apprenticed at a couple of piano shops, and was a road tuner for Baldwin.  Back on Long Island I tuned full-time for several years, and worked for the Family Melody Centers chain, even tuning one year for the NAMM show in Chicago.

 

I tune pianos primarily by ear.  That's not because I'm a purist; I just find it faster and more accurate, and I can adjust to the individual requirements of the piano or the room "on the fly".  Although I've done extensive renovating and rebuilding in the past, I now limit my services to fine tuning, regulation and light repair, as well as "pitch-raising"---which sometimes means tuning a piano to an "in-between" pitch when incremental tunings are necessary.

 

I approach tuning, voicing, regulating, and repairing as a technician...AND...as a musician.

 

It would be my honor and pleasure to service your instrument, or just to chat.  While I will always miss my friends and clients back on Long Island, I now look forward every day to meeting more and more of the fine folks I am happy to call my Albuquerque neighbors!  After more than 15 years here, I am starting to feel like a real "Burqueno!" 

 

»Services

 

»Jim's official webpage