New York-based pianist/composer Ted Rosenthal releases his 12th CD, "Impromptu," September 28th, 2010, on Playscape Recordings. This release finds Rosenthal's trio, featuring bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Quincy Davis, reinventing music by Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Puccini, Schubert, Schumann and Tchaikovsky for the classic jazz piano trio format. "There aren't many modern jazz pianists more dexterous than Mr. Rosenthal," writes the New York Times' Nate Chinen. Critics have called him "a skilled, imaginative artist" (David R. Adler, AllMusic.com) and "an inventive pianist with super chops, mercurial wit and abundant imagination" (Owen McNally, Hartford Courant). JazzTimes' Harvey Siders notes, his "writing and playing exude a confidence that guarantees he can execute any lick he writes or hears—and it will swing." AllAboutJazz-New York's Elliott Simon adds, "Rosenthal continues to impress as a pianist who, while ostensibly working in the mainstream, consistently infuses his projects with a fresh creative aesthetic." "For the past few years, I have regularly performed my jazz arrangements and improvisations on themes from the classical repertoire, both with my trio and as a soloist," Rosenthal explains in the liner notes. "My goal is for the music to sound like a natural, unforced jazz presentation. It feels very natural to craft these pieces into forms like that of the Great American Songbook. I like to play them with the ease and familiarity of a favorite standard, and the harmonic progressions lend themselves to similar harmonic re-workings that I do with the American standards. For me, playing jazz on these classical themes is an exciting coming together of traditions." Rosenthal has been an active member of the jazz scene since winning the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition in 1988. He soon built on that recognition by touring and recording as a sideman with Jon Faddis, Art Farmer, James Moody, Gerry Mulligan and Phil Woods among others. Actively touring with his trio and as a soloist, he has released 11 diverse recordings under his own name over the past two decades. He has earned widespread acclaim for his ability to perform a wide variety of material with collaborators ranging from singers to big bands to major symphony orchestras. Also active in jazz education, Rosenthal serves on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School and regularly presents clinics all around the world. Learn more at http://www.tedrosenthal.com