Dick Hyman

DownBeat magazine characterized him as "a pianist of longstanding grace and bountiful talent, with an ability to adapt to nearly any historical style, from stride to bop to modernist sound-painting.". A masterful improviser, he is also a composer of concerti and chamber music, and the soundtrack composer/arranger for more than a dozen Woody Allen films. In addition, he launched the acclaimed Jazz in July series at the 92nd Street Y in New York City and served as its artistic director for 20 years. His daughter Judy Hyman is a founding member of The Horse Flies, an American alternative rock/folk band based in Ithaca, New York. His grandson is designer and artist Adam Charlap Hyman.

• Name — Dick Hyman • Birth Name — Richard Hyman • Born — 8 March 1927 • Birthplace — New York City, New York, U.S. • Genre — Jazz, swing, lounge, stride piano • Occupation — Musician, composer • Instrument — Piano, organ • Years Active — 1940s–present • Label — MGM, Command, MCA, Concord Jazz, Chiaroscuro, Arbors • Website — www.dickhyman.com

Hyman was born in New York City on March 8, 1927 to Joseph C. Hyman and Lee Roven (Rovinsky), and grew up in suburban Mount Vernon, New York. His older brother, Arthur, owned a jazz record collection and introduced him to the music of Bix Beiderbecke and Art Tatum. Hyman was trained classically by his mother's brother, the concert pianist Anton Rovinsky, who premiered The Celestial Railroad by Charles Ives in 1928. Hyman said of Rovinsky: "He was my most important teacher. I learned touch from him and a certain amount of repertoire, especially Beethoven. On my own I pursued Chopin. I loved his ability to take a melody and embellish it in different arbitrary ways, which is exactly what we do in jazz. Chopin would have been a terrific jazz pianist! His waltzes are in my improvising to this day.". Hyman enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 1945, and was transferred to the U.S. Navy band department. "Once I got into the band department, I was working with much more experienced musicians than I was used to," Hyman once stated. "I’d played in a couple of kid bands in New York, playing dances, but the Navy meant business — I had to show up, read music, and be with a bunch of better players than I had run into." After leaving the Navy he attended Columbia University. While there, Hyman won a piano competition, for which the prize was 12 free lessons with swing-era pianist Teddy Wilson. Hyman has said that he "fell in love with jazz" during this period. After graduating from Columbia, Hyman married his wife, Julia, in 1948.

Relax Records released Hyman's solo piano versions of "All the Things You Are" and "You Couldn't Be Cuter" around 1950. He recorded two honky-tonk piano albums under the pseudonym "Knuckles O'Toole" (including two original compositions), and recorded more as "Willie the Rock Knox" and "Slugger Ryan". As a studio musician in the 1950s and early 1960s, Hyman performed with Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Guy Mitchell, Joni James, Marvin Rainwater, Ivory Joe Hunter, LaVern Baker, Ruth Brown, The Playmates, The Wildcats, The Kookie Cats, The Four Freshmen, The Four Sophomores, Johnny Mathis, Mitch Miller, and many more. He played with Charlie Parker for Parker's only film appearance. His extensive television studio work in New York in the 1950s and early 1960s included a stint as music director for Arthur Godfrey's television show from 1959 to 1961. Hyman has worked as composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist for the Woody Allen films Stardust Memories, Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Broadway Danny Rose, Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, Bullets Over Broadway, Everyone Says I Love You, Sweet and Lowdown, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Melinda and Melinda. His other film scores include French Quarter, Moonstruck, Scott Joplin, The Lemon Sisters and Alan and Naomi. His music has also been heard in Mask, Billy Bathgate, Two Weeks Notice, and other films. He was music director of The Movie Music of Woody Allen, which premiered at the Hollywood Bowl. Hyman composed and performed the score for the Cleveland/San Jose Ballet Company's Piano Man, and Twyla Tharp's The Bum's Rush for the American Ballet Theatre. He was the pianist/conductor/arranger in Tharp's Eight Jelly Rolls, Baker's Dozen, and The Bix Pieces and similarly arranged and performed for Miles Davis: Porgy and Bess, a choreographed production of the Dance Theater of Dallas. In 2007, his Adventures of Tom Sawyer, commissioned by the John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts and produced for the stage by Toni Pimble of the Eugene Ballet, premiered in Eugene, Oregon. In the 1960s, Hyman recorded several pop albums on Enoch Light's Command Records. At first, he used the Lowrey organ, on the albums Electrodynamics (US No. 117), Fabulous (US No. 132), Keyboard Kaleidoscope and The Man from O.R.G.A.N. He later recorded several albums on the Moog synthesizer which mixed original compositions and cover versions, including Moog: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman (Can No. 35) and The Age of Electronicus (US No. 110). The track "The Minotaur" from The Electric Eclectics (1969) charted in the US top 40 (US R&B Singles No. 27; Hot 100 No. 38) (No. 20 Canada), becoming the first Moog single hit (although, as originally released on 45, it was the B-side to the shorter "Topless Dancers of Corfu"). Some elements from the track "The Moog and Me" (most notably the whistle that serves as the song's lead-in) on the same album were sampled by Beck for the track "Sissyneck" on his 1996 album Odelay. Hyman has been a guest performer at jazz festivals and concert venues. Around 1995, Hyman and his wife, Julia, moved permanently to Venice, Florida. Julia Hyman died June 16, 2025.

• Recorded — Released — Title — Label — Notes • 1953 — 1953 — September Song: Dick Hyman Plays the Music of Kurt Weill — Proscenium — Solo piano • 1953 — 1953 — Conversation Piece: Dick Hyman Plays the Music of Noel Coward — Proscenium — Solo piano • 1953 — 2009 — Autumn in New York: Dick Hyman Plays the Music of Vernon Duke — Proscenium — Solo piano • 1955? — Ragtime Piano (MH 33-147) — Waldorf Music Hall — As Willie "The Rock" Knox And His Orchestra • 1955? — Ragtime Piano (MH 33-151) — Waldorf Music Hall — As Willie "The Rock" Knox And His Orchestra • 1955? — Swingin' Double Date — Lion — Trio • 1955? — The Dick Hyman Trio Swings — MGM — Trio • 1956 — 1956 — The Unforgettable Sound of the Dick Hyman Trio — MGM — Trio • 1956 — Beside a Shady Nook — MGM — Trio • 1956 — The Swinging Seasons — MGM — Trio • 1957 — 1957 — Hi Fi Suite — MGM — With Joe Newman (trumpet), Thad Jones (trumpet), Benny Powell (trombone), Bill Barber (tuba), Jerome Richardson (alto saxophone, piccolo), Frank Wess (tenor saxophone, flute), Romeo Penque (clarinet, baritone saxophone), Phil Bodner (baritone saxophone, oboe), Don Elliott (vibraphone, percussion), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Eddie Safranski (bass), Osie Johnson (drums), Kenny Clarke (drums), Don Lamond (drums) • 1957 — 1957 — 60 Great All Time Songs - Volumes 1–6 — MGM — Quartet • 1957 — 1957 — Dick Hyman & Harpsichord in Hi Fi — MGM — Trio and orchestra • 1958 — Oh, Captain! — MGM — With various, including Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Art Farmer (trumpet), Tony Scott (reeds), Marilyn Moore, Jackie Paris and Osie Johnson (vocals) • 1958 — 1958 — Gigi — MGM — Trio, with Eddie Safranski (bass), Don Lamond (drums) • 1958 — 1958 — Knuckles O'Toole Plays the Greatest All-Time Ragtime Hits — Grand Award (reissued by ABC in 1974) — Trio (banjo and drums) • 1960 — After Six — MGM — Trio • 1960 — 1960 — Strictly Organ-ic — MGM — Quintet • 1960 — Provocative Piano — Command — With orchestra • 1960 — Provocative Piano, Vol. 2 — Command — With orchestra • 1961 — 1961 — Dick Hyman and His Trio — Command — Trio, with Joe Benjamin (bass), Osie Johnson (drums) • 1963 — 1963 — Electrodynamics — Command — Quintet • 1963 — Fabulous — Command • 1963 — 1963 — Moon Gas — MGM — With Mary Mayo • 1964 — 1964 — Keyboard Kaleidoscope — Command — With various, including Everett Barksdale, Bucky Pizzarelli, Bob Haggart, Osie Johnson, the Ray Charles Singers • 1965 — 1965 — The Man from O.R.G.A.N. — Command • 1966 — I'll Never Be the Same — MGM — With strings • 1966 — 1966 — Happening! — Command — Hyman plays harpsichord • 1967 — 1967 — Brasilian Impressions — Command — With various • 1968 — 1968 — Mirrors — Command • 1968 — 1968 — Sweet Sweet Soul — Command — With Bob Haggart (electric bass), Bob Rosengarden (drums) • 1969 — 1969 — Moog: The Electric Eclectics of Dick Hyman — Command — Hyman plays Moog • 1969 — 1969 — The Age of Electronicus — Command — Command label badge includes the banner "Electronic Pop Music". • 1970 — 1970 — Concerto Electro — Command — Command label badge includes the banner "Electronic Pop Music". LP rear cover states "Command / Probe Records". • 1971 — 1971 — The Sensuous Piano of "D" — Project • 1972 — Solo Piano — Project — Solo piano • 1972 — 1972 — Grand Slam — Project • 1973 — 2002 — An Evening at the Cookery, June 17, 1973 — JRB — Solo piano; in concert • 1973 — Ragtime, Stomps and Stride — Project • 1974 — 1974 — Genius at Play — Monmouth Evergreen — Solo piano • 1974 — Some Rags, Some Stomps, and a Little Blues — Columbia • 1974 — 1974 — Let It Happen — RCA — As the Jazz Piano Quartet with Hank Jones, Marian McPartland and Roland Hanna • 1975 — Satchmo Remembered: The Music of Louis Armstrong at Carnegie Hall — Atlantic — With various; in concert • 1975 — 1975 — Charleston — Columbia — With various • 1975 — 1975 — Scott Joplin: The Complete Works for Piano — RCA • 1977 — Scott Joplin — MCA — With various, including Hank Jones (piano) • 1977 — Themes and Variations on "A Child Is Born" — Chiaroscuro — Solo piano • 1977 — 1994 — A Waltz Dressed in Blue — Reference — Trio, with Michael Moore (bass), Ron Traxler (drums) • 1978 — 1978 — The Music of Jelly Roll Morton — Smithsonian — Some tracks solo piano; some tracks trio, with Bob Wilber (clarinet), Tommy Benford (drums); one track quartet; some tracks septet, with Wilber (clarinet), Warren Vaché (trumpet), Jack Gale (trombone), Marty Grosz (guitar, banjo), Major Holley (bass, tuba), Benford (drums) • 1978 — 1978 — Come and Trip It — New World • 1980 — 1980 — Say It with Music — World Jazz — Quintet, with Pee Wee Erwin (trumpet), Bob Wilber (reeds), Milt Hinton (bass), Bobby Rosengarden (drums) • 1981 — 1981 — Cincinnati Fats — OVC-ATOS • 1981 — 1992 — Live at Michael's Pub — JazzMania — Duo, with Roger Kellaway (piano); in concert • 1983 — 1983 — Kitten on the Keys: The Piano Music of Zez Confrey — RCA — Solo piano • 1983 — They Got Rhythm — Jazz Club of Sarasota — Duo, with Derek Smith (piano); live at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota, Florida, February 9, 1983 • 1983–1988 — 2017 — Solo at the Sacramento Jazz Festivals — Arbors • 1984 — 1984 — Eubie — Sine Qua Non — Solo piano • 1985 — 1996 — Fireworks — Inner City — Duo, with Ruby Braff (cornet); in concert • 1985 — The Purple Rose of Cairo — MCA — Film soundtrack • 1986 — 1986 — Gulf Coast Blues — Stomp Off — Solo piano • 1987 — 1988 — Manhattan Jazz — Musicmasters — Duo, with Ruby Braff • 1987 — 1987 — Runnin' Ragged — Pro Jazz — Duo, with Stan Kurtis (violin) • 1987 — 2005 — Stridemonster! — Unisson — Most tracks duo, with Dick Wellstood (piano); one track each of solo piano • 1988 — At Chung's Chinese Restaurant — Musical Heritage Society — Solo piano; live at Chung's Chinese Restaurant, Cleveland, Ohio, September 26, 1985 • 1989 — 1989 — The Kingdom of Swing and the Republic of Oop Bop Sh'bam — Musicmasters — With Joe Wilder (trumpet), Warren Vaché (cornet), Urbie Green (trombone), Buddy Tate (clarinet, tenor sax), Derek Smith (piano), Milt Hinton (bass), Butch Miles (drums) • 1988 — 1988 — Face the Music: A Century of Irving Berlin — Musical Heritage Society — Solo piano • 1988 — 1988 — Moonstruck — Capitol — Film soundtrack • 1990 — 1990 — Live from Toronto's Cafe Des Copains — Music & Arts — Solo piano; live at Cafe des Copains, Toronto, Canada, June, 1988 • 1990 — 1990 — Blues in the Night (Dick Hyman Plays Harold Arlen) — Musicmasters — Solo • 1990 — Dick Hyman Plays Fats Waller — Reference — Solo piano • 1989 — Music from My Fair Lady — Concord Jazz — Duo, with Ruby Braff (cornet) • 1990 — 1990 — Music of 1937 — Concord — Solo piano; in concert • 1990 — 1991 — Stride Piano Summit — Milestone — With Harry Sweets Edison (trumpet), Ralph Sutton, Jay McShann, Mike Lipskin (piano), Red Callender (bass), Harold Jones (drums) • 1990 — Plays Duke Ellington — Reference — Solo piano • 1991 — All Through the Night — Musicmasters — Solo piano; in concert • 1993 — 1996 — Gershwin Songbook: Hyman Variations — Musicmasters — Solo piano • 1993 — Dick Hyman/Ralph Sutton; Concord Duo Series, Vol. 6 — Concord — Duo, with Ralph Sutton (piano); in concert • 1994 — 1994 — Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz — Some tracks solo piano; some tracks duo, with Marian McPartland (piano) • 1994 — Ruby Braff and Dick Hyman Play Nice Tunes — Arbors — with Ruby Braff • 1994 — The Piano Giants at Bob Haggart's 80th Birthday Party — Arbors — With Derek Smith and Ralph Sutton (piano), Bob Haggart (bass), Bobby Rosengarden (drums); in concert • 1994 — 1994 — From the Age of Swing — Reference — Some tracks octet, with Joe Wilder (trumpet), Urbie Green (trombone), Phil Bodner (alto sax, clarinet), Joe Temperley (baritone sax), Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), Butch Miles (drums); some tracks nonet, with Frank Wess (alto sax) added • 1995 — 1996 — Elegies, Mostly — Gemini — Duo, with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass) • 1995 — 1996 — Cheek to Cheek — Arbors — Trio, with Howard Alden (guitar), Bob Haggart (bass) • 1996 — Just You, Just Me — Sackville — Duo, with Ralph Sutton (piano) • 1996? — 1996 — Swing Is Here — Reference — With Peter Appleyard (vibes), Ken Peplowski (clarinet), Randy Sandke (trumpet), Frank Wess (tenor sax), Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar), Jay Leonhart (bass), Butch Miles (drums); Nancy Marano (vocals) added on some tracks • 1998? — In Recital — Reference — Solo piano; in concert • 1998 — 1998 — Dick & Derek at the Movies — Arbors — Duo, with Derek Smith (piano) • 1998 — 1999 — There Will Never Be Another You — Jazz Connaisseur — Solo piano; in concert • 2001? — 2002 — Barrel of Keys — Jazz Connaisseur — Duo, with Louis Mazetier (piano); in concert • 2001 — 2002 — Forgotten Dreams — Arbors — Duo, with John Sheridan (piano) • 2003? — 2003 — What Is There to Say? — Victrola — Duo, with Ray Kennedy (piano) • 2003 — 2004 — If Bix Played Gershwin — Arbors — With Tom Pletcher (cornet), David Sager (trombone), Dan Levinson (clarinet, C-melody sax), Vince Giordano (bass sax), Bob Leary (guitar, banjo, vocals), Ed Metz Jr (drums) • 2006? — Playful Virtuosity — Ryko — Duo, with Meral Güneyman (piano) • 2006? — 2007 — Teddy Wilson in 4 Hands — Echoes of Swing — Most tracks duo, with Chris Hopkins (piano); one track each of solo piano • 2006? — 2006 — Solo Piano Variations on the Great Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein — Jazz Heritage Society — Solo piano • 2007 — In Concert at the Old Mill Inn — Sackville — Solo piano; in concert • 2008 — 2008 — Thinking About Bix — Reference Recordings — Solo piano, with Mike Lipskin (piano) on "You Took Advantage of Me" • 2009? — 2010 — Danzas Tropicales — Ryko — with Meral Güneyman • 2010 — 2012 — You're My Everything — Venus — Trio, with Jay Leonhart (bass), Chuck Redd (drums) • 2011? — 2012 — Late Last Summer — Left Ear — Duo, with Judy Hyman (violin) • 2013? — Lock My Heart — Red House — Duo, with Heather Masse (vocals) • 2012 — 2013 —...Live at the Kitano — Victoria — Duo, with Ken Peplowski (clarinet, tenor sax); in concert • 2014 — 2015 — House of Pianos — Arbors — Solo piano; in concert • 1992 — 2022 — One Step to Chicago — Rivermont — with Peter Ecklund and Dick Sudhalter (cornet), Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), Dan Barrett (trombone), Kenny Davern and Dan Levinson (clarinet), Ken Peplowski (tenor saxophone), Marty Grosz and Howard Alden (banjo/guitar), Vince Giordano (tuba/bass saxophone), Bob Haggart and Milt Hinton (bass), Tony DeNicola and Arnie Kinsella (drums)

With Ruby Braff • Bugle Call Rag (Jazz Vogue, 1976) • Fireworks (Inner City, 1985) • Music from South Pacific (Concord Jazz, 1991) • Very Sinatra (Red Baron, 1993) • A Pipe Organ Recital Plus One (Bellaphon, 1996) • Watch What Happens (Arbors, 2002) • You Brought a New Kind of Love (Arbors, 2004) With Jim Cullum Jr. • New Year's All Star Jam (Pacific Vista, 1993) • Honky Tonk Train (Riverwalk, 1994) • Hot Jazz for a Cool Yule (Riverwalk, 1995) • Fireworks! Red Hot & Blues (Riverwalk, 1996) • American Love Songs (Riverwalk, 1997) With Benny Goodman • Date with the King (Columbia, 1956) • Benny Goodman (Capitol, 1956) • Benny Goodman Plays Selections from the Benny Goodman Story (Capitol, 1956) With Urbie Green • 21 Trombones (Project 3, 1967) • 21 Trombones Rock, Blues, Jazz, Volume Two (Project 3, 1969) • Green Power (Project 3, 1971) • Bein' Green (Project 3, 1972) • Oleo (Pausa, 1978) With Enoch Light • Show Spectacular (Grand Award, 1959) • The Original Roaring 20's Volume 4 (Grand Award, 1961) • Enoch Light and the Glittering Guitars (Project 3, 1969) • Enoch Light Presents Spaced Out (Project 3, 1969) • Permissive Polyphonics (Project 3, 1970) With Wes Montgomery • Fusion! (Riverside, 1963) • Pretty Blue (Milestone, 1975) • The Alternative Wes Montgomery (Milestone, 1982) • Born to Be Blue (Riverside, 1983) With Tony Mottola • Romantic Guitar (Command, 1963) • Heart & Soul (Project 3, 1966) • Guitar U.S.A. (Command, 1967) • Lush, Latin & Lovely (Project 3, 1967) • Roma Oggi - Rome Today (Project 3, 1968) • Warm, Wild and Wonderful (Project 3, 1968) • Tony Mottola's Guitar Factory (Project 3, 1970) • Tony Mottola and the Quad Guitars (Project 3, 1973) With Flip Phillips • Flip Phillips Collates (Clef, 1952) • A Real Swinger (Concord Jazz, 1988) • Try a Little Tenderness (Chiaroscuro, 1993) • Flip Philllips Celebrates His 80th Birthday at the March of Jazz 1995 (Arbors, 2003) With Doc Severinsen • Fever (Command, 1966) • Live! (Command, 1966) • The New Sound of Today's Big Band (Command, 1967) With Bob Wilber • Soprano Summit (World Jazz, 1974) • Summit Reunion (Chiaroscuro, 1990) • Bufadora Blow-up (Arbors, 1997) • A Perfect Match (Arbors, 1998) • Everywhere You Go There's Jazz (Arbors, 1999) • A Tribute to Kenny Davern and 80th Birthday Salute to Bob Wilber (2009) With others • Howard Alden, Howard Alden Plays the Music of Harry Reser (Stomp Off, 1989) • Louis Bellson and Gene Krupa, The Mighty Two (Roulette, 1963) • Ruth Brown, Miss Rhythm (Atlantic, 1959) • Evan Christopher, Delta Bound (Arbors, 2007) • Don Elliott and Rusty Dedrick, Counterpoint for Six Valves (Riverside, 1959) • Major Holley and Slam Stewart, Shut Yo' Mouth! (PM, 1987) • J. J. Johnson, Goodies (RCA Victor, 1965) • Mundell Lowe, The Mundell Lowe Quartet (Riverside, 1955) • Mark Murphy, That's How I Love the Blues! (Riverside, 1963) – recorded in 1962 • Bette Midler, Songs for the New Depression (Atlantic, 1976) – recorded in 1972–76 • Sandy Stewart, Sandy Stewart Sings the Songs of Jerome Kern with Dick Hyman at the Piano (Audiophile, 1995) – recorded in 1994 • Toots Thielemans, The Whistler and His Guitar (Metronome, 1962)

With Count Basie • The Board of Directors (Dot, 1967) with The Mills Brothers • How About This (Paramount, 1968) with Kay Starr With Trigger Alpert • Trigger Happy! (Riverside, 1956) With Flip Phillips • Try a Little Tenderness (Chiaroscuro, 1993)