Biographies

Alice Nielsen-Shane

Alice Nielsen-Shane is a native of Alaska, born and raised in College, near Fairbanks. She has been singing and accompanying herself at the piano since she was a young girl. Alice’s music studies began with her mother, a pianist and school band teacher. After studying piano at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, Alice got her first professional gig, singing and dancing the can-can at the Palace Saloon in Fairbanks. There, amidst the sawdust, peanut shells and beer, Alice formed a repertoire of blues, rags and torch songs for the tourists, homesick G.I’s and North Slope oil workers. Later, Alice moved to Los Angeles to study piano at the Dick Grove School. After graduating, she moved east to the Carolinas and still performs in Wilmington and on the Cape Fear. Alice is currently organist and choir director at St. Anne’s and St. Thomas Episcopal Churches in New York’s Hudson Valley. Alice Nielsen-Shane performs in and around the New York metropolitan area. She lives in Walden, NY, with her husband, Mark Shane.

Mark Shane plays Classic Jazz Piano

Mark Shane’s jazz piano is firmly rooted in a tradition established by such jazz piano masters as James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Earl Hines and Art Tatum. While developing his solo style, Mark Shane served an extended tenure as house pianist in New York’s “Eddie Condon’s” jazz club, adding a distinctive new piano voice to the Condon tradition of hot ensemble playing. Shane has played with Benny Goodman, Buck Clayton, Buddy Tate and many other all star alumni from the great bands of Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller.

Mark Shane has been featured on radio and television jazz special broadcasts and has appeared as a featured soloist at major jazz festivals worldwide. Shane has toured for Columbia Artists and with the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble. Featured in the 50th anniversary Benny Goodman memorial concert in Carnegie Hall, Shane has also played jazz piano for the Twyla Tharp Dance Company as well as for the Grammy Award winning soundtrack of the film, “The Cotton Club”. Other film work includes the soundtracks to “Brighton Beach Memoirs”, “Biloxi Blues”, “Working Girl”, and other films made for television. For Carnegie Hall’s 100th Anniversary celebration, Shane accompanied hosts Beverly Sills and Barbara Walters. Mark Shane has played a royal command performance of Duke Ellington’s “The Queen’s Suite” for HRH Princess Anne in London’s Festival Hall.

Featured with many of New York’s popular dance orchestras, Mark Shane has played for society and debutante cotillions throughout the United States, for presidential Inaugural Balls in Washington, DC, and for the Mayor of New York City at Gracie Mansion. Shane has also played private parties for Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Estee Lauder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and for openings and fund raising events at major libraries, museums and cultural centers throughout the United States. Shane is regularly featured at Lincoln Center’s “Midsummer Nights’ Swing” concerts. Corporate audiences such as IBM, AT&T and others have also enjoyed Shane’s piano in New York City’s finest hotels and clubs, including the Waldorf Astoria, Plaza, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, 21 Club and others.

Named to the Steinway international roster of piano artists, Mark Shane has been called “...one of the great accompanists of his time..” (Mississippi Rag). Shane’s piano, featured on many recordings, reflects a true sense of living jazz history and continues the tradition of deep swing and lyrical melodic improvisation. Mark Shane plays Classic Jazz Piano, America’s unique musical contribution to world culture.