About Jon Glazer

As quickly as someone can shout out a request, pianist and multifaceted musician Jon Glazer begins to play.

And with that, Glazer takes his audience on a musical journey that is nothing short of extraordinary. Someone suggests something from his new CD, Divine Rebellion and Glazer is all too happy to oblige-- but not until he playfully teases his fans with a few other "standards."

"What will it be?" he asks the crowd. Something by The Beatles is one request while another shouts out a standard of a different generation-Rodgers and Hart's classic 1937 love song, "My Funny Valentine."

Glazer, ever the professional, gives them both-he begins playing "A Day in the Life" with an eerie similarity to the Beatles mainstream rock version. To the astonished delight of his audience, Glazer then segues effortlessly into "My Funny Valentine," with the sweet sentimentality that made it a hit for artists like Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett during the 50's and 60's.

At last, Glazer begins playing tunes from Divine Rebellion. First up is "Why is Henry Here?" a titillating original composition based on a true story about a young psychiatric patient Jon met years ago. Weaving the story into a song, Glazer characteristically mesmerizes the crowd with the winning melody and lyrical antics of the lovable, if quirky patient, Henry.

Pianistic Genius? Composer, arranger and vocalist extraordinaire?

"No," Glazer insists, "I'm just using the gifts I was given. I genuinely hope that, with the recent release of Divine Rebellion, listeners will give it a chance and take the time to hear a different kind of music, one that elicits personal emotions, no matter their age or gender," he explains.

Fortunately, not one, but many fans (including Garth Brooks and Sir Tim Rice) in forty-nine states and seven foreign countries have long enjoyed his music.

Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma as a largely self-taught musician, Glazer's extensive repertoire was honed at early age. A hard-rocking singer and keyboardist, he quickly became known on the local music scene for his professionalism, infectious charisma and uncanny musical talents.

After highly successful stints in Dallas (including lead vocals for several national and regional commercials) and Los Angeles (where he recorded with Rick Springfield), he received a call to audition for The Judds' Farewell Tour, and the rest, as they say, is history. At the end of the Farewell Tour, Wynonna Judd herself asked Glazer to continue with the band; he joined her for three subsequent national tours.

In addition to touring and taping television appearances with the Judds, Glazer has performed with the likes of Bette Midler, Carl Perkins and Paul Shaffer's CBS Orchestra.

Currently back in Tulsa to be close to the family and friends he holds so dear, there was just one thing that Glazer had not done. "So many people over the years wondered why I hadn't made my own album," he mused.

"'We've been waiting a long time,' they'd say to me. I was very busy, and so grateful to have had the opportunities I did, working with some of the industry's finest musicians, that I didn't devote the time I needed to record my own tunes."

Now, Glazer has released a new CD of mostly original music, recorded with his own band and on his own label, mBARK Records. Divine Rebellion culminates Glazer's success as an independent artist with an exciting collection of music he brands as "otherworldly, optimistic pop"-songs with thoughtful, uplifting lyrics, and highly memorable melodies that make a dramatic musical statement. Tunes range from the outrageously stylistic licks of the title track, "Divine Rebellion," to the heavily orchestrated "Why is Henry Here?" (reminiscent of late Beatles rock) to the soulful, sublimely triumphant" Tonight"-all with Glazer's signature sound. Finally, the wait is over for the legions of Glazer's fans who have anxiously awaited the debut of Divine Rebellion, as well as the multitude of fans to come.

"If just one person derives pleasure from my music, if a lyric resonates with meaning and emotion for someone, and if they want to sing along," Glazer adds, grinning with an easy, infectious smile," then I've done my job." Indeed.