We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ed Bazel. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ed below.
Ed, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
That’s a great question. I do have resilience. If it is to be, it is up to me. Also, I am an endurance athlete and it taught me discipline. I have completed 5 marathons (Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, and Honolulu), have ridden a bicycle from the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, CA to the end of the St.John’s Pier in St. Augustine, FL – 8 states, 278 cities and towns, and 3,000 miles, have hiked up Mt. Kilimanjaro, taken two Tour de France cycling vacations in the Alps and Pyrenees, rowed 1.2 million meters on my rowing machine and much more. The thousands of hours of unseen training and resilience involved in these events were intense. Nobody held a gun to my head to do these things, I simply showed up every day and gave it my best.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Contemporary pianist Ed Bazel is a lifelong musician and entrepreneur. His independently produced albums—Bella Piano (2013), Homecoming (2021), The London Sessions: Reflections from Studio 2 (recorded at Abbey Road 2022), and his newly released album The London Sessions: New Perspectives From Studio 2 (recorded at Abbey Road 2023)—present soothing, romantic melodies that are popular choices for listeners who want to relax and unwind. Ed has won 14 awards for his passionate music and counting!
Ed studied under such greats as Jay Flippin, Lou Levy, Joe Harnell, and Clare Fischer. He spent 20 years performing as a solo pianist at exotic locations and society events worldwide, including in Los Angeles at the Beverly Hills Country Club and the Ritz-Carlton. He was named the best pianist in downtown LA and has since founded the international radio station The River of Calm. His current passion is serving patients through the River of Calm Radio station’s growing Headphones for Chemotherapy programs across the U.S. www.theriverofcalm.com
The wild success and powerful impact of The London Sessions has now made him famous in new-age circles as an emerging artist. While Bazel’s backstory and London-centric cover art invited people into the experience, the music on that collection has earned him a non-stop explosion of recent awards and recognition by countless taste-making organizations, including the World Entertainment Awards (Best New Age Song, “Soaring”), InterContinental Music Awards (Winner, North America Contemporary Instrumental), Hollywood Independent Music Awards (Winner, Best Instrumental) and Solo Piano Album of the Year (Solo Piano Radio).
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. A Vision Board – Yes, I am that type of person—one who uses a vision board. I am here to say they work! I have had things like Mt. Kilimanjaro, recording at Abbey Road Studios, Tour de France, and many others on my board. I create it in Photoshop, find the right pictures, and then send it to Kinkos to be printed and laminated. (Kinkos has given me some strange looks throughout the years.) Then I bring it home and hang it in my shower so I can see it daily. Current things on my vision board include Best New Age Song from The Grammy Awards, an Oscar for Best Original Theme Song In A Motion Picture, recording special pieces for our River of Calm Headphones with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and many more life goals. Believe me, this works!
2. Show up – simply show up every day and do at least 1 thing a day towards your goals and dreams. People say I have a “gift’ of playing the piano. To be honest, it wasn’t a gift but, in reality, about 20,000 hours of practicing and playing for a living. I simply showed up, sat down, and put in my time. It’s not a sexy story, not a magic bullet, and nobody will hand it to you. You need to simply show up.
3. Realize that nobody is coming to your rescue—it’s up to you. The true sign of maturity is not to wait to be rescued but to take charge of your future. It is up to you!
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
When I was growing up, my parents forced me to take piano lessons for 11 years. I hated it at the time because it involved practicing for 30 minutes every day. It turned out to be the best gift they ever gave me. My parents weren’t musical, but they had Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Janis Joplin, The Beatles, and more on the stereo all the time. It gave me a good grounding. I grew up with a business degree from Marshall University (in my hometown of Huntington, WV) and a computer programming degree from the University of Kentucky. But even with those, I told my parents I wanted to become a pianist for a living. After my mother released me from a choke hold (she wanted me to have a “real job:), I went on to become a successful solo pianist and was named “Best Pianist In Downtown Los Angeles” by a local newspaper. From there, I went into the agency side. I started booking pianists in Los Angeles and ended up opening my own agency, The Bazel Group, Inc. www.thebazelgroup.com, which provides celebrity concerts, comedians, and speakers for corporate and special events. We provide celebrity concerts, comedians, and speakers to leading corporations from The Great Wall of China to the US Ambassador to The Vatican in Rome. The list of artists we worked with reads like a list of my music heroes. We have had amazing success and have won many awards and hearts in this business. This all came from my drop-to-my-knees-and-thank-the-heavens-above passion for music. And that all came from my parents. Now, I am back at the piano and am enjoying amazing success. I just released my new solo piano album, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, on April 19th. It’s called The London Sessions: New Perspectives From Studio 2 and can be heard on all the major music outlets.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.edbazel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edbazelpiano/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edbazelpianist
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edbazel/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/EdBazelPiano
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb8t02lT7UaVzHLt8MuKORg
- Other: The Bazel Group, Inc. Celebrity Concerts, Comedians & Speakers for Corporate Events. https://thebazelgroup.com The River of Calm – Music to Soothe Your Soul™ – https://www.theriverofcalm.com Ed Bazel Pianist – www.edbazel.com
