Dean Malsack started piano lessons at the age of five and began playing professionally at fourteen.  His father, also a professional pianist, was his teacher.  His mother teaches piano as well.

On a cold November Sunday night in Philadelphia not too many people were out and about. But at the World Café Live, near the Ivy League campus of the University of Pennsylvania, there was beautiful music happening with or without the crowds. Even the upstairs of venue has a special feel when it's not overly packed. It felt like a jazz night.

To kick off Volume 2 of our Road Trips series, dead.net is taking you back to the ground-breaking shows in September 1990 at Madison Square Garden. The 2-disc set puts you front and center for 2-plus hours of inspired interplay as the band explores new directions.

Branches on the tree of music will never stop growing. As soon as someone pioneers a new sound, five others have radiated from it, creating what they see as their own unique niche, slightly different form their predecessors. Unfortunately, such constant divergence creates an intricate web of music where nothing is original and no two sounds can be grouped exclusively under one heading. This has lead to bands describing themselves with more stylistic differences than those listed at a record store. "Rock infused funk with folk and indie influences." What the hell is that?

Known for his hip-hop and reggae style, Jewish musician Matisyahu's sold out show Sunday night at Boulder's Fox Theatre proved to have attracted far beyond the religious folk of his faith. While a considerable amount of Jewish families with women in their head dresses and men in their customary yarmulke could be spotted from among the crowd, the greater majority of the audience showed to be just as diverse as the musical genres in performance.

Coming off of its very successful November 25th 2008 Gala Fundraiser which raised over $200,000, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem spends December explores the variegated personalities and styles of jazz music through discussions with trombonist and experimental composer George Lewis, drummer Andrew Cyrille and pianist Larry Willis.