Jack Reilly

Pianist Jack Reilly has the unenviable position of being an artist well respected and admired by his peers for his composing and performing faculties, but never quite achieving that level of public acclaim his prodigious talents deserve. There was no one defining moment when the pianist decided jazz was to be his livelihood. It grew on him as he hung out at community jazz joints on Staten Island listening to the local piano players. He was pushed over the edge when he heard the modernism of the Lennie Tristano Quintet and made his musical debut with John LaPorta in 1958 at the...