Jim Sellers - Piano, Vocal Coach

Jim Sellers is a sought-after performer who plays at such première Chicago jazz venues as the Jazz Showcase, The Green Mill, Pop's in Highwood, Chambers in Niles, and Andy's Live Jazz, just to name a few. Jim's latest C.D. "House Hour" features original compositions and outstanding performances by internationally recognized saxophonist Frank Catalano and the great Chicago trumpeter Art Davis. Jim often performed with bassist Bill Yancey, a Chicago-area icon who toured and recorded with Ella Fitzgerald and Eddie Harris and performed with Duke Ellington. (Bill Yancey died in January 2004.) Jim is featured along with Yancey on the CD "The Double Life" by Gina Gibson, with whom Jim also frequently performs.

While studying piano as an undergraduate, Jim was selected to perform in a trio with guest-artist Wynton Marsalis. Jim went on to earn a master's of music degree from DePaul University in Chicago. A yearlong engagement as the leader of a jazz trio four nights a week at Chicago's Yvette Wintergarden on Wacker Drive launched Jim's professional career.

He wrote arrangements and original compositions for a ten-piece swing band that performed weekly through much of 1998. During that time he honed his improvisational skills at Chicago hot spot Annoyance Theatre, where he was the pianist for all of their scripted and non-scripted shows. He wrote all of the songs and incidental music for three of their scripted musical comedies.

Jim's "unambiguous attack of the keyboard" (jazzoutlet.com) finesse, distinctive voice and sheer passion for music keep him in demand as a performer in Chicago and beyond.