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Born
and raised in Michigan, MacAskie attended Indiana
University, receiving his Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies in
1987. He studied privately
with David Baker and Joseph Rezits, and graduated with a Performer's Certificate. He
was briefly a touring musician, with the Ringling Bros. Circus, then with the Artie Shaw Orchestra. Arriving
in New York City in 1989, he quickly became active in the jazz community,
including appearances in popular jazz rooms such as Fat
Tuesday's, Visione's, The Squire, Augie's.
Other well known spots included the Rainbow
Room, Sardi's, Windows on the World, Tavern on the Green, The
Waldorf-Astoria, Don't Tell Mama, S.O.B.'s, The Lone Star and Manny's Car Wash. With
a style rooted in the great jazz tradition, MacAskie’s approach to
playing reflects a wide variety of musical influences.
His résumé includes production work with Blank
Productions, a major East Coast studio where he worked on sound
design, synth and rhythm arrangements. Other credits include composition
and production of music for commercial videos and jingles. Although
his first love is performance, teaching also plays a significant role in
MacAskie's career. Both
professional musicians and intermediate music students have shared his
bench to learn the crafts of piano, jazz improvisation, and contemporary
music technologies. He has
taught applied jazz piano at the University of New Mexico since 2000 while
maintaining a busy private studio. He has been a clinician for high school
jazz bands and has considerable experience teaching in classroom settings.
He has presented adult lecture series on jazz history and jazz piano for
the New Mexico Jazz Workshop. His
busy schedule finds him performing up and down the Rio Grande Valley with
occasional guest spots in Phoenix and Los Angeles.
In Albuquerque, he has appeared at The
Outpost Performance Space, Summerfest, Anderson Valley Vineyards, The
Martini Grill, The Cooperage, and many local hotels.
In Santa Fe, he has performed at The
Eldorado Hotel, Vanessie and El
Farol. Taos credits include The
Taos Inn and El Monte
Sagrado. He has also
contributed to numerous recording projects at New Mexico’s top music
studios, and for the past seven years, has been Music Director at
Albuquerque’s First Church of
Religious Science. MacAskie has performed with a number of world-class jazz artists incuding Frank Morgan, Bill Watrous, Kevin Mahogoney, Chris Calloway, and New York Voices. He has also performed with pop stars Patti Page, Regis Philbin, John Davidson, Little Anthony & The Imperials, The Inkspots, The Platters, and Hassan Hakmoun. His most recent release is a collection of jazz standards, Piano Solos. |
Stu MacAskie,
one of New Mexico’s busiest jazz musicians, is also an accomplished
composer, arranger, producer and band leader with his performing,
teaching, writing, and recording talents in constant demand.