Stride Pianists Play Berkeley Hall

It is a special moment to see a whole audience full of young students vacillate between rapt attention and unrestrained enthusiastic appreciation. This happened often during a recent concert by internationally-known pianists Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi, who play stride piano, the style of music born out of Harlem in the 1920's that takes the rhythm and bass of ragtime, styled with a bit of swing, and puts some jazz and blues improvisation on top of it. Stride leaves grand openings for individual expression, and Stephanie and Paolo took advantage of that freedom, bringing us a wide variety of up-beat music. With it's Harlem roots, Stephanie rightfully acknowledged the appropriateness of this concert during Black History Month and honored the key musicians who brought this style to prominence.