User:SarahRutledge/sandbox

Alan St. Jon

Multi Platinum Recording/Touring Artist, World Renowned Keyboardist

Biography

Alan St. Jon was born in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. His parents met while performing on stage as professional singers in the most fashionable supper clubs of the time, including the legendary Copacabana. With his musical parents urging him on, Alan started playing piano at the age of four and took his first piano lesson at the age of seven. As a typical young boy of his era, he found it somewhat unsettling to be dragged away from his favorite TV shows and playmates to be placed under the tutelage of a demanding piano teacher. As Alan matured into a teenager, his musical interests expanded to include guitar and trumpet which led to his learning to read music. At about this time in his life he developed a genuine love for playing keyboards and devoted a great deal of time mastering all types including organ, piano and various synthesizers. As a 15-year-old high school student Alan formed his first band, a group called Lady Moon, playing high school dances and Knights of Columbus Halls and occasionally sneaking into a bar to play. With this burning desire for playing keyboards carrying him forward, Alan found himself in a band called Asylum after a short stay with Asylum, he join a band called Swift Kick. With the addition of Alan St. Jon, Swift Kick soon became one of Long Island's major club bands along with Twisted Sister and Zebra. In 1979 Alan was introduced to a band named Blackjack who were in need of a keyboard player for their initial U.S.A. tour in support of their debut album on Polydor Records. Alan became a member of Blackjack which consisted of Michael Bolton, Bruce Kulick, Sandy Gennaro and Jimmy Haslip. Shortly after the Blackjack tour, Alan found himself back on the road as a member of Rex Smith's band where he once again was touring North America extensively in support of Smith's Columbia Records hit album "Sooner Or Later." Building a name for himself as a creative and prolific keyboard player, along with a recommendation from renowned bass player Mark Clarke, Alan greatly impressed Billy Squier and instantly became an invaluable member of Billy's band. Adding wonderfully unique backing vocals as well as creating a very special keyboard sound that was fresh and original, this collaboration resulted in the sale of over six million copies of Billy Squier's "Don't Say No" album. Since that recording Alan has been a steadfast member of Billy's band performing on every Billy Squier album, selling tens of millions of records worldwide, and performing throughout the world as a major concert attraction. Interestingly, in world-renowned rock writer and critic Chuck Eddy's book entitled, "The 500 Greatest Rock Albums in the Universe" he rated Billy Squier's album "Don't Say No" at number 67 and "The Tale Of The Tape" at number 122. Throughout the 1980's and 90's Alan established himself as one of the few truly great keyboard players in the pop/rock music world. His credits for both live performances and recordings are so voluminous that it would be impractical to list them all here in detail. Therefore, the following is an abbreviated list of artists with whom Alan has either performed in support of their tours and/or performed on their recordings:

Genya Raven - Cher - Twisted Sister - Ronnie Spector - Foreigner - Ted Nugent - Steve Forbert - Billy Squier - Phoebe Snow - Robin Beck - Alice Cooper - Tommy Shaw - Iggy Pop - Cinderella - Michael Bolton - Fiona - Paul Young - Peter Wolf - Jules Sher - Leslie West - Desmond Child - Elliot Easton - John Entwistle

His extensive recording experience has enabled him to work side by side with a number of Grammy Award winning producers such as Jack Douglas who produced Aerosmith and John Lennon, Andy Johns of Led Zeppelin fame, Mac who produced all the Queen albums and Desmond Child who produced Michael Bolton, Bon Jovi and Cher. Alan has been able to assimilate a great deal of information and knowledge from these wonderful recording experiences. Currently, he is putting it all to good use while developing and applying his own techniques to several projects that he is currently producing. In 2004 Alan embarked in a new musical direction with the recording of "Moo Moo And The Furry Slippers." This journey into Classical and New Age music is the fulfillment of Alan's long-held wish to express both his thoughts and emotions via the medium of keyboard driven music. The music is captivating and hypnotic. It carries the listener off to a place where inner reflection becomes natural and clear.