Dan Tepfer and Ben Wendel

Nationally acclaimed, young (still under 30) jazz pianist Tepfer was born in Paris, studied at New England Conservatory and lives in New York City. But he considers Eugene, where his grandfather was a popular jazz pianist, where his parents grew up and where he spent childhood summers, his second home. If that’s what it takes to get him to Oregon with reed player Ben Wendel, then we’re the lucky ones, because the two classically trained musicians’ striking, melodic originals fully imbibe jazz’s improvisatory originality. (Their duet album, Small Constructions, which comes out next month, sports a pair of Thelonious Monk tunes.) But their music also draws on influences from French composer Olivier Messiaen, Handel and J.S. Bach (Tepfer’s last album was a much lauded jazz interpretation of the Goldberg Variations), as well as jazz legends like Lennie Tristano, Miles Davis and Lee Konitz, with whom Tepfer made an excellent duets album.

Where: Ivories Jazz Lounge and Restaurant
Phone: 241-6514
Address: 1435 NW Flanders St.
Website: ivoriesjazz.com