Biography

Born Dec. 24th 1966

Despite his young age of 37, Frank Chastenier is already somewhat of a veteran in his field. He has been living and loving music for almost thirty years. He started to play the piano when he was only eight, inspired by Oscar Peterson, Count Basie and Keith Jarrett. He also learned to play the organ at a very young age. He was only thirteen when he won a stately jazz competition. Only a year later he started touring Germany as the youngest member of a youth Big Band. At Seventeen he started his classical piano studies.

In 1987, at only 20 years of age, Chastenier reached the finals of the legendary "Thelonious Monk Competition" in Washington, DC. A year later Peter Herbolzheimer got him to join his "Bundesjazzorchester" (as well as his own "Rhythm Combination & Brass" time and again). In 1990 Frank Chastenier celebrated his debut with the Big Band of the WDR Radio in Cologne with a studio production. This was soon followed by other projects, such as Last Minute" with drummer Dennis Mackrel or "Electricity" (1991), during which the young instrumentalist got to work for the first time with guest-band director Bob Brookmeyer and soloists such as John Abercrombie, Danny Gottlieb, Dieter Ilg and Rainer Brninghaus. That same year the project-oriented work turned into a continuous engagement. Much more than just a job, but steady work nonetheless: At only 24 years of age Frank Chastenier became the pianist of the WDR Big Band Cologne. From the start he was fascinated by the diversity of the concert programs of this ensemble, in which he could develop his creative variety and creativity on piano, keyboards, synthesizers and the Hammond B3.

The musical diversity of Frank Chastenier in the concerts and by now 25 album-productions with the WDR Big Band has impressed quite a few Jazz giants, among them Ray Brown, Peter Erskine, Jeff Hamilton, Bill Holman, Bob Brookmeyer, Vince Mendoza, John Clayton, George Gruntz, Lalo Schifrin, Jim McNeely, Michel Legrand, Paquito D'Rivera, Toots Thielemans, Patrick Williams and many more. "His playing is full of energy. He has a sense for the right playing gesture, an openness and energy, that make him a unique musician," said Bob Brookmeyer. In 1994 the trombone player, composer, arranger and conductor dedicated his piano concert "Serious Music" to Frank Chastenier, for the first time allowing him the opportunity to unfold his improvisational and pianistic creativity in a larger context with the WDR Big Band. Vocalists such as Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Randy Crawford, Caterina Valente or Patti Austin have also come to appreciate his qualities as a universal, virtuoso and sensitive accompanist.

Apart from his work with the Big Band of the WDR, Chastenier, who is a well versed studio musician and arranger (among his finest sessions are those with German entertainers Hildegard Knef and Manfred Krug), has been supporting his music school friend Till Brönner at various opportunities, live and in the studio. There's a quote by Brönner, concerning the endlessness of Frank's popularity and musical appeal, that really says it all: "When we played in his home town of Aachen, it was like a homecoming for Frank Chastenier. But after two weeks of touring it was quite obvious, that he must have been born and raised in at least fourteen cities in Germany."