I've grown up with music almost my entire life--I started piano lessons at the age of four and I've basically been playing ever since. Over the years I've played in just about every style imaginable, from big bands to wedding cover bands, though my classical training and love of jazz are still the dominant influences on my playing I think.

The biggest influence as a musician would definitely be Bill Evans; of course his playing is phenomenal, but what has struck me even more about his music is that he makes it his own--when I listen to him I have a distinct sense that everything he plays is a consciously focused effort, clearly expressing exactly what it is he has to say, nothing more and nothing less. It is what I strive for most in my playing: an integrity and intentionality in every single note that I play.

Biography

Derrick Lowe was born in the Bay Area in Northern California and has been playing piano since the age of four. He attended Westmont College where he majored in both music and philosophy, studying piano performance in both classical and jazz styles. Following graduation, he moved to Boston for a year to further study jazz at the Berklee College of Music. After Boston, he moved back to the West Coast to Carpinteria, where he worked as a professional musician throughout the greater Santa Barbara area for the next two years. He currently resides in Westwood where he is in attendance at the UCLA School of Law. In addition to his legal studies, he still heads up to Santa Barbara on the weekend where he can normally be found performing at Volare’s Ristorante in Santa Ynez and at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Barbara.