Meet Cole Broderick
 

Composer-pianist Cole Broderick has been passionate about the piano from the moment he began studying the instrument at age seven. Weekly lessons continued through high school with heavy emphasis on jazz and popular music. The Albany, New York native subsequently studied arranging and composition with Jerry Coker and Clifton Williams at the University of Miami and made campus history when he incorporated jazz with his classical performance in the senior recital.

Greatly influenced in his college years by Oscar Peterson and Andre Previn, Broderick went on to receive a number of impressive offers following his graduation with a degree in music. He opted instead to party, playing in bars and clubs between Fort Lauderdale and Lake Placid to support himself. The artist's lifestyle finally caught up with him, and in 1980, he resolved to make a fresh start. Returning to his Capital Region roots, Broderick winterized a rustic log cabin which his late father built on the tranquil shores of Saratoga Lake in the 1930s and set about the business of getting his career back on track.

After forming the Cole Broderick Quartet in 1992, Broderick recorded a demo tape of some of his original compositions and sent it to Festival Productions. The following year, his jazz ensemble was booked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Energized by the experience, Broderick recorded what would be the first in a collection of CDs celebrating the four glorious "Seasons of Saratoga." The 4 CD box set subsequently received a coveted "Critic’s Choice" citation from Billboard Magazine. Encouraging him every step of the way was his first wife, Suzanne, who passed away from cancer in 1995.

The flurry of publicity that surrounded the award led Broderick to forge an affiliation with the Aradia Group (which submits songs for films and television) as well as resulting in the playing of his music on radio stations across the USA, Canada and parts of Europe. In addition, Broderick and his sizzling jazz ensemble were featured nationally on Bobby Flay’s Food Network TV program. Another high note came when Broderick received a personal accolade from FRASIER co-star David Hyde Pierce who wrote: "The jazz is as cool as it is hot" ...obviously Saratoga has a good influence on all aspects of the arts, from dance to theater, from Balanchine to Broderick."

Most recently, Broderick has electrified fans at celebrations like First Night and The Tulip Festival in Albany -- as well as performing at private parties and corporate events in settings such as The Glen Sanders Mansion in Schenectady and The Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs.

Currently making plans for his first solo CD (“In A Dream”) and a wedding to journalist Ann Hauprich, Broderick also entertains each Tuesday evening at Chez Sophie, the restaurant favored by such visiting celebrities as Maestro Charles Dutoit and Robert Redford.

For more information, kindly call 518.587.2908 or visit www.colebroderick.com.

Click here to read a beautiful and insightful story about Cole  authored by Wendy Hobday Haugh and first published in the December 2000 editions of Hudson Valley MATURE LIFE and Capital District MATURE LIFE magazines.