Toronto-based pianist and composer Jeremy Ledbetter is a musical globetrotter. In fact, he’s made a career traveling the world in search of inspiration. For Ledbetter, it’s all about the importance of maintaining a sense of discovery. Throughout his adventures, music is always there. It provides an entranceway into learning and appreciating other cultures.
Rediscovering the Spark
“Let this time be an opportunity to rediscover why you became a musician, rediscover that love and spark again,” Ledbetter says. In this case, he’s speaking about the current unprecedented moment in history.
However, that spark first appeared at a young age. Ledbetter singles out one animated piece of cinema in particular.“I saw the film Fantasia with my family at three years old. It blew me away,” he recalls. “Orchestral classical music my first musical experience. I grew up studying it, falling in love with Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and Chopin.”
"Oscar Peterson's Night Train was was like blues times a million. I was obsessed with learning that album note for note."
New Musical Worlds
During his teenage years, he drifted from those early influences into blues and jazz. “I discovered the blues and fell hard. One day I went into a music store to buy cassettes. There was this tiny little blues section. Oscar Peterson’s Night Train album was accidentally filed there,” he remembers.
“It was like blues times a million. I was obsessed with learning that album note for note,” Ledbetter laughs.
A Cultural Mosaic
From there, Ledbetter went on to study jazz in Toronto. Eventually, he embarked on a decade of travel to work with artists in Trinidad, Cuba, Brazil, and Venezuela. Got a Light? is the artist’s first release with his trio featuring Snarky Puppy drummer Larnell Lewis and bassist Rich Brown.
Mirroring the mix of styles on the record is Toronto itself. As a matter of fact, he can look right outside his door for inspiration. Indeed, Ledbetter’s hometown is a multi-cultural mosaic, fueling his forays into salsa, calypso, and other styles. “Living in a city like Toronto, I’m able to play with artists from different places, countries, cultures,” he explains.
"We are the sum of our experiences. Every style I play helps the other styles I play."
Stylistic Appreciation
Learning and appreciating other cultures, in turn, guided his own musical development. “We are the sum of our experiences,” Ledbetter suggests. “Every style I play helps the other styles I play. Playing Cuban music helps me to have a better rhythmic sense when I’m playing jazz. Playing calypso helps me internalize the Cuban rhythms.”
As a player with a tactile relationship to his instrument, Ledbetter’s choice of piano is particularly important to him. “The action is familiar to me. I’m able to slide in and play without a lot of adjustment,” he says of the Roland FP series. “It’s the closest I can get to feeling like I’m playing my grand piano at home.”
Take a Breath
Increasingly, our houses are the center of our lives. With this in mind, focusing on music at home can help us grow and cope with the myriad challenges of pandemic-era life. There may even offer an upside during this unique global moment. For Ledbetter, it’s a chance to “take some time, take a look inside, take a breath.”
Live Inspiration
Jeremy performs at the Roland Inspiration Center in Toronto, Canada on the Roland GP609 Digital Grand Piano.
