Ragtime Mark Birnbaum and Cheech in NYC

Pianist Mark Birnbaum & Lacey Brown

Dr. Mark Birnbaum: Jesus G. Faust

Dr. Mark Birnbaum: Jesus G. Faust

JESUS G. FAUST
COMPOSED AND PERFORMED BY
DR. MARK BIRNBAUM AND DR. WILLIAM SCHIMMEL

JESUS G. FAUST (TANGO MEPHISTO); A THEATRE WORK FOR ACCORDION AND PIANO COMPOSED BY THE PERFORMERS.

2010 MEPHISTOPHELIAN TANGO FOR ACCORDION (DR. WILLIAM SCHIMMEL) AND PIANO (DR. MARK BIRNBAUM) PAYING HOMAGE TO LISZT, BLAKE AND MILTON AND LAVEY.
THE WAR BETWEEN ‘THE GODLY’ AND ‘THE FALLEN’…. AND THE OUTCOME WILL BE DETERMINED ON JULY 30TH—AND THE PERFORMERS MAY SWITCH ROLES.

BIRNBAUM WILL BE COVERED IN GERONIMO-LIKE FACEPAINT WEARING A HAND-PAINTED O’KEEFE BLAZER, 5 CROSSES, 7 INCH PLATFORM BOOTS AND TOP HAT WITH 18 FEATHERS;

SCHIMMEL, STANDARD-BEARER/GUARDIAN OF THE ACCORDION WILL BE HIS STATELY/GODLY SELF.

TIME TO ENTER HEAVEN AND HELL…SIMULTANEOUSLY!

AT THE AMERICAN ACCORDIONISTS
ASSOCIATION MASTER CLASS AND
CONCERT SERIES – THE SEMINARS

FRIDAY JULY 30 – 7PM
TENRI CULTURAL INSTITUTE
43A WEST 13 ST BETWEEND 5th AND 6th AVES
$25. reservations - 212-876-0827

july 30th piano-accordion Mark BirnbaumWilliam Schimmel

looking forward to friday july 30th - 7pm-
tenri gallery --43 west 13th --betw 5th and 6th-------------------------------------

Ragtime Pianist Mark Birnbaum - NYC

Mark Birnbaum/William Schimmel Performance July 30th Friday

see you all for new work---'jesus g faust'--- a tango mephisto-----mew theatre work---by william schimmel accordion and mark birnbaum piano--------------------------------------
tenri gallery ---43 west 13th -- 7 pm -------friday nite july 30th ------

Mark Birnbaum /Willian Schimmel Performance July 30th Friday

New theatre work ---'Jesus G Faust'---for accordion and piano------
july 30th - friday---7pm william schimmel and mark birnbaum--------

Mark Birnbaum/William Performance July 30th Friday

a new work entitled 'Jesus G Faust'[ - a theatre work for piano and accordion--
tenri gallery -----43 west 13th between 5th and 6th --
7 pm-----------

MADHATTER PIANIST/TEACHER MARK BIRNBAUM

RECENT STORY NY TIMES (AND VIDEO) HIT NY TIMES AND ENTER MY NAME--PRINTED BELOW
Mark Birnbaum - Pianist
Doctor of Musical Arts - Columbia University '82.
Staff Pianist on TV ch 9 Joe Franklin from 1989-93. WWOR-TV.

Explore a geometric, yet flexible way of learning harmony & melody.
Find the Discipline within your Freedom.

Website - ragtime markbirnbaum (check google-windows internet explorer is best) -Music reviews, sound clips, articles, etc. -
New cd's '-Duality Wrecks' - - 'Weather Watch Free Jazz' -- & "Accordion/Piano"....with sound clips on cd baby (as Accompanist to Accordionist Dr. William Schimmel)
Youtube - great clips from tv shows.

Ragtime,/Blues/Jazz/ & Classical Piano..
Improvisation!
Freedom- no speed limit..no brakes...
Let's Rock-
Showing up - is everything.

the Zone .. faster by going slower...
Breathing and Posture...
Sustain a note...
Discipline within your freedom.
Improvise.. swing - .. New Jack Swing.

Jazz is Zen...
Blues is the basis of Jazz.
Bach is King.

A Piano Lesson is a Magical Mystery Tour -
Be a one-man-band; the piano is your orchestra.
Relaxed arms & fingers .
The Organ & Harpsichord are our friends.
Look good while playing-
Visual images are important.

Piano Improvisation is... Composition in Real Time.
Piano work embodies... Edison, Gandhi and the Warrior.
We include everything = Bach , punk rock .. free jazz

Think Melodies - simple and /folk-like.
Scales - harmonies - modes - within a system.
Simplicity ... the core of complexity.
James Brown, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Sinatra...up and beyond...

Listening - Bach, Blues, Basie , Beyond - Punk- the '80's, Hip-Hop//Soul-Funk-
Rhythm - Internalize that pulse!
American music is dance/groove music.

Jelly Roll, Duke Ellington, Joplin, James P.Johnson, Fats Waller, Art Tatum,, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner.
Phrases - Ornament/embellish as the piano sings.
Your personality in sound is it -

Improvisation.=taking chances
Sixty Five Dollars for Sixty Five Minutes---- hardcore/in the moment.

What you bring to the table, we magnify.
Serious students only, please-

212 802 8380



Like His Platform Boots, His Music Keeps Moving
By COREY KILGANNON
Published: April 3, 2010

PHOTO: Mark Birnbaum, a familiar sight on the East Side, in his apartment. A video of Mr. Birnbaum is at nytimes.com/cityroom. (PHOTOGRAPH BY COREY KILGANNON/THE NEW YORK TIMES)
If you have spent time on the East Side of Manhattan around the United Nations, there is a good chance you have seen a man walking around looking a bit like Elton John circa 1977.
This would probably be Mark Birnbaum on his daily constitutional. Mr. Birnbaum walks Second Avenue flamboyantly dressed in platform boots, hand-painted blazers and all sorts of feathered boas, with cigar clenched in mouth and ornamental cane in hand.

''The street is my inspiration, and if you want to remain immersed in New York, you have to walk its streets,'' said Mr. Birnbaum, who grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in Manhattan since 1977. ''I'm a New York street guy, and Manhattan has the best energy in the world.''
Mr. Birnbaum, 58, who teaches piano out of his studio apartment on the 20th floor of his building on East 48th Street, calls his long daily walks integral to his playing, teaching and composing, a tie to ''New York's street vibe.''

''I dress like this every day of the year, whether I'm staying inside, teaching or not,'' he said of his outfit, which includes a top hat, sparkles on his face and colorful strands in his hair.
Mr. Birnbaum said he realized the musical importance of the daily walk after meeting the immortal ivory tickler Vladimir Horowitz, who told him, ''Make sure you walk 40 blocks a day, because if you don't walk, your fingers don't run.''

Mr. Horowitz was living on Madison Avenue at the time, and Mr. Birnbaum said he walked in that area about 50 times until he finally saw the maestro and strolled with him.
Mr. Birnbaum also ran into Richard M. Nixon at a grocery on East 65th Street early one morning in 1980. The former president, Mr. Birnbaum said, ''was squeezing grapefruits and explaining the virtues of pink versus white grapefruits as if he were conducting foreign policy.''

Mr. Birnbaum specializes in teaching jazz piano, especially ragtime and stride, ''with some Bach and punk rock and free jazz thrown in,'' he said. In his listing on Craigslist -- ''A Piano Lesson Is a Magical Mystery Tour'' -- he claims to have ''invented a geometric, yet flexible way of teaching blues, jazz, ragtime and classical piano.''
''Jazz is Zen. Blues is the basis of jazz. Bach is king,'' the listing says. Many of Mr. Birnbaum's students are United Nations employees.
On a recent weekday, Mike Heller Chu, 35, who works in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations, showed up impeccably dressed in suit and tie for his weekly lesson. Mr. Birnbaum was decked out in sunglasses, glitter boots with eight-inch heels, necklaces and pendants dangling over his bare chest, long feathers waving above his head.
Mr. Heller Chu sat at the piano, which had a pile of empty cigar boxes on top. He began improvising a jazzy, vampy solo, as Mr. Birnbaum paced nearby, his cane in one hand, an unlighted cigar in the other.

Mr. Birnbaum exulted with a yell during well-played passages, and urged his student at other times to ''throw in that Gershwin-y thing,'' or add a Coltrane lick, or pound out a James Brownian rhythm.
Growing up in East Flatbush near Ebbets Field, Mr. Birnbaum imitated the recordings and piano rolls of Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson. He graduated from Brooklyn College and received a doctorate in music composition from Columbia University.
He has made nine records, although none are exactly big sellers. His life used to be full of high-paying gigs, and he was the pianist and a regular guest on ''The Joe Franklin Show.'' These days, he relies on teaching for a living.

Among his many compositions is a rag called ''Eubie on Second Avenue,'' in honor of Eubie Blake, and of walking on the avenue.
''When I walk, I get maybe 100 people who say hello to me every day,'' he said. ''You have to be an improviser to live in New York, because anything can happen. Walking itself is an improvisation, in New York.''

WFMU BROADCAST MAY 12 WED!!!!!!!!!!MARK BIRNBAUM PIANIST

5.04.2010

Seven Second Delay Live 5/12

Seven Second Delay returns to the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater in Manhattan, Wednesday, May 12th from 6-7pm for a live radio broadcast.

Joining Ken and Andy will be author/musician RICK MOODY, ragtime pianist and platform shoe-wearer MARK BIRNBAUM, and director of the forthcoming film "Ginger is the New N-Word" about anti-red head bias in the culture at large FLOYD CHAMBERS.

The UCB Theater is located at 307 West 26th Street in Manhattan, near the corner of 8th Avenue. Admission is $5, but if you save your receipt, the admission fee will be refunded to you at the end of your life.

WFMU RADIO WITH MARK BIRNBAUM WED MAY 6PM

UCB Theater is located at 307 W. 26th Street

MARK BIRNBAUM ON WFMU WED MAY 12 6PM

IT SHOULD BE FUN ON WFMU - BROADCASTING FROM UCB Theater is located at 307 W. 26th Street--
TUNE IN!

Top Hat Pianist Mark Birnbaum celebrates NYC

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/virtuosity-flows-from-street-to-piano/

Feature Story - Mark Birnbaum Piano New York Times

Mark Birnbaum story & video--New York Times - by Corey Kilgannon

If you have spent time on the East Side of Manhattan around the United Nations, there is a good chance you have seen a man walking around looking a bit like Elton John circa 1977.

This would probably be Mark Birnbaum on his daily constitutional. Mr. Birnbaum walks Second Avenue flamboyantly dressed in platform boots, hand-painted blazers and all sorts of feathered boas, with cigar clenched in mouth and ornamental cane in hand.

“The street is my inspiration, and if you want to remain immersed in New York you have to walk its streets,” said Mr. Birnbaum, who grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in Manhattan since 1977. “I’m a New York street guy, and Manhattan has the best energy in the world.”

Mr. Birnbaum, 58, who teaches piano out of his studio apartment on the 20th floor of his building on East 48th Street, calls his long daily walks integral to his playing, teaching and composing, a tie to “New York’s street vibe.”

“I dress like this every day of the year, whether I’m staying inside, teaching or not,” he said of his outfit, which includes a top hat, sparkles on his face and colorful strands in his hair.

Mr. Birnbaum said he realized the musical importance of the daily walk after meeting the immortal ivory tickler Vladimir Horowitz, who told him, “Make sure you walk 40 blocks a day, because if you don’t walk, your fingers don’t run.”

Mr. Horowitz was living on Madison Avenue at the time, and Mr. Birnbaum said he walked in that area about 50 times over the next year until he finally saw the maestro and strolled with him.

Mr. Birnbaum also ran into Richard M. Nixon at a grocery on East 65th Street early one morning in 1980. The former president, Mr. Birnbaum said, “was squeezing grapefruits and explaining the virtues of pink versus white grapefruits as if he were conducting foreign policy.”

Mr. Birnbaum specializes in teaching jazz piano, especially ragtime and stride, “with some Bach and punk rock and free jazz thrown in,” he says. In his listing on Craigslist — “A Piano Lesson is a Magical Mystery Tour” — he claims to have “invented a geometric, yet flexible way of teaching blues, jazz, ragtime and classical piano.”

“Jazz is Zen. Blues is the basis of Jazz. Bach is King,” the listing instructs. Many of Mr. Birnbaum’s students are United Nations employees.

On a recent weekday, Mike Heller Chu, 35, who works in the United Nations’ Department of Peacekeeping Operations, showed up impeccably dressed in suit and tie for his weekly lesson. Mr. Birnbaum was decked out in sunglasses, glitter boots with eight-inch heels, necklaces and pendants dangling over his bare chest, long feathers waving above his head.

Mr. Heller Chu sat at the piano, which had a pile of empty cigar boxes accumulated atop. He began improvising a jazzy, vampy solo, as Mr. Birnbaum paced nearby, his cane in one hand, an unlighted cigar in the other.

Mr. Birnbaum exulted with a yell during well-played passages, and urged his student at other times to “Throw in that Gershwin-y thing,” or add a Coltrane lick, or pound out a James Brownian rhythm.

Growing up in East Flatbush near Ebbets Field, Mr. Birnbaum imitated the recordings and piano rolls of Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson. He graduated from Brooklyn College and received a doctorate in music composition from Columbia University.

He has made nine records, although none are exactly big sellers. His life used to be full of high-paying gigs, and he was the pianist and a regular guest on “The Joe Franklin Show.” These days, he relies on teaching for a living.

Among his many compositions is a rag called “Eubie on Second Avenue,” in honor of Eubie Blake, and of walking on the avenue.

“When I walk, I get maybe 100 people who say hello to me every day,” he said. “You have to be an improviser to live in New York, because anything can happen. Walking itself is an improvisation, in New York.”

Feature Story - Mark Birnbaum Piano New York Times

Mark Birnbaum story & video--New York Times - by Corey Kilgannon

If you have spent time on the East Side of Manhattan around the United Nations, there is a good chance you have seen a man walking around looking a bit like Elton John circa 1977.

This would probably be Mark Birnbaum on his daily constitutional. Mr. Birnbaum walks Second Avenue flamboyantly dressed in platform boots, hand-painted blazers and all sorts of feathered boas, with cigar clenched in mouth and ornamental cane in hand.

“The street is my inspiration, and if you want to remain immersed in New York you have to walk its streets,” said Mr. Birnbaum, who grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in Manhattan since 1977. “I’m a New York street guy, and Manhattan has the best energy in the world.”

Mr. Birnbaum, 58, who teaches piano out of his studio apartment on the 20th floor of his building on East 48th Street, calls his long daily walks integral to his playing, teaching and composing, a tie to “New York’s street vibe.”

“I dress like this every day of the year, whether I’m staying inside, teaching or not,” he said of his outfit, which includes a top hat, sparkles on his face and colorful strands in his hair.

Mr. Birnbaum said he realized the musical importance of the daily walk after meeting the immortal ivory tickler Vladimir Horowitz, who told him, “Make sure you walk 40 blocks a day, because if you don’t walk, your fingers don’t run.”

Mr. Horowitz was living on Madison Avenue at the time, and Mr. Birnbaum said he walked in that area about 50 times over the next year until he finally saw the maestro and strolled with him.

Mr. Birnbaum also ran into Richard M. Nixon at a grocery on East 65th Street early one morning in 1980. The former president, Mr. Birnbaum said, “was squeezing grapefruits and explaining the virtues of pink versus white grapefruits as if he were conducting foreign policy.”

Mr. Birnbaum specializes in teaching jazz piano, especially ragtime and stride, “with some Bach and punk rock and free jazz thrown in,” he says. In his listing on Craigslist — “A Piano Lesson is a Magical Mystery Tour” — he claims to have “invented a geometric, yet flexible way of teaching blues, jazz, ragtime and classical piano.”

“Jazz is Zen. Blues is the basis of Jazz. Bach is King,” the listing instructs. Many of Mr. Birnbaum’s students are United Nations employees.

On a recent weekday, Mike Heller Chu, 35, who works in the United Nations’ Department of Peacekeeping Operations, showed up impeccably dressed in suit and tie for his weekly lesson. Mr. Birnbaum was decked out in sunglasses, glitter boots with eight-inch heels, necklaces and pendants dangling over his bare chest, long feathers waving above his head.

Mr. Heller Chu sat at the piano, which had a pile of empty cigar boxes accumulated atop. He began improvising a jazzy, vampy solo, as Mr. Birnbaum paced nearby, his cane in one hand, an unlighted cigar in the other.

Mr. Birnbaum exulted with a yell during well-played passages, and urged his student at other times to “Throw in that Gershwin-y thing,” or add a Coltrane lick, or pound out a James Brownian rhythm.

Growing up in East Flatbush near Ebbets Field, Mr. Birnbaum imitated the recordings and piano rolls of Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson. He graduated from Brooklyn College and received a doctorate in music composition from Columbia University.

He has made nine records, although none are exactly big sellers. His life used to be full of high-paying gigs, and he was the pianist and a regular guest on “The Joe Franklin Show.” These days, he relies on teaching for a living.

Among his many compositions is a rag called “Eubie on Second Avenue,” in honor of Eubie Blake, and of walking on the avenue.

“When I walk, I get maybe 100 people who say hello to me every day,” he said. “You have to be an improviser to live in New York, because anything can happen. Walking itself is an improvisation, in New York.”

Mark Birnbaum story & video--New York Times - by Corey Kilgannon

If you have spent time on the East Side of Manhattan around the United Nations, there is a good chance you have seen a man walking around looking a bit like Elton John circa 1977.

This would probably be Mark Birnbaum on his daily constitutional. Mr. Birnbaum walks Second Avenue flamboyantly dressed in platform boots, hand-painted blazers and all sorts of feathered boas, with cigar clenched in mouth and ornamental cane in hand.

“The street is my inspiration, and if you want to remain immersed in New York you have to walk its streets,” said Mr. Birnbaum, who grew up in Brooklyn and has lived in Manhattan since 1977. “I’m a New York street guy, and Manhattan has the best energy in the world.”

Mr. Birnbaum, 58, who teaches piano out of his studio apartment on the 20th floor of his building on East 48th Street, calls his long daily walks integral to his playing, teaching and composing, a tie to “New York’s street vibe.”

“I dress like this every day of the year, whether I’m staying inside, teaching or not,” he said of his outfit, which includes a top hat, sparkles on his face and colorful strands in his hair.

Mr. Birnbaum said he realized the musical importance of the daily walk after meeting the immortal ivory tickler Vladimir Horowitz, who told him, “Make sure you walk 40 blocks a day, because if you don’t walk, your fingers don’t run.”

Mr. Horowitz was living on Madison Avenue at the time, and Mr. Birnbaum said he walked in that area about 50 times over the next year until he finally saw the maestro and strolled with him.

Mr. Birnbaum also ran into Richard M. Nixon at a grocery on East 65th Street early one morning in 1980. The former president, Mr. Birnbaum said, “was squeezing grapefruits and explaining the virtues of pink versus white grapefruits as if he were conducting foreign policy.”

Mr. Birnbaum specializes in teaching jazz piano, especially ragtime and stride, “with some Bach and punk rock and free jazz thrown in,” he says. In his listing on Craigslist — “A Piano Lesson is a Magical Mystery Tour” — he claims to have “invented a geometric, yet flexible way of teaching blues, jazz, ragtime and classical piano.”

“Jazz is Zen. Blues is the basis of Jazz. Bach is King,” the listing instructs. Many of Mr. Birnbaum’s students are United Nations employees.

On a recent weekday, Mike Heller Chu, 35, who works in the United Nations’ Department of Peacekeeping Operations, showed up impeccably dressed in suit and tie for his weekly lesson. Mr. Birnbaum was decked out in sunglasses, glitter boots with eight-inch heels, necklaces and pendants dangling over his bare chest, long feathers waving above his head.

Mr. Heller Chu sat at the piano, which had a pile of empty cigar boxes accumulated atop. He began improvising a jazzy, vampy solo, as Mr. Birnbaum paced nearby, his cane in one hand, an unlighted cigar in the other.

Mr. Birnbaum exulted with a yell during well-played passages, and urged his student at other times to “Throw in that Gershwin-y thing,” or add a Coltrane lick, or pound out a James Brownian rhythm.

Growing up in East Flatbush near Ebbets Field, Mr. Birnbaum imitated the recordings and piano rolls of Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson. He graduated from Brooklyn College and received a doctorate in music composition from Columbia University.

He has made nine records, although none are exactly big sellers. His life used to be full of high-paying gigs, and he was the pianist and a regular guest on “The Joe Franklin Show.” These days, he relies on teaching for a living.

Among his many compositions is a rag called “Eubie on Second Avenue,” in honor of Eubie Blake, and of walking on the avenue.

“When I walk, I get maybe 100 people who say hello to me every day,” he said. “You have to be an improviser to live in New York, because anything can happen. Walking itself is an improvisation, in New York.”

'Live' CD: Accordion/Piano -Piano Accordion -Schimmel, Birnbaum and Beyond

Accordion Piano-Piano Accordion features a great tango, William Schimmel's Dimitri 15 (He's on Piano)
Heaven's War - with Mark Birnbaum piano and Schimmel on accordion-

recorded july 24th here in at NYC's Tenri Cultural Institute-

available from bill schimmel's website---------------it kicks!

Brooklyn or Manhattan...Mad Hatter Mark Birnbaum asks...

Time Out NY Mag------asks this as well--Does this person look like which boro--------
----i am photo #20--top hat, cane, cigar and .........I let you all decide-

Spring is on the way--as is St. Patrick's Day!

February:Top Hat Pianist Mark Birnbaum Honors:Washington/Edison/Lincoln/ BlackHistory Month

And Sheryl Crow, Burt Reynolds, Leslie Nielsen and my humble self---Happy Birthdays!

Spring is on the way--St Patrick is approaching--

A Mad Hatters Day to all!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY From Madhatter Pianist Mark Birnbaum

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - -Thomas Edison, Sheryl Crow, Burt Reynolds George Washington (old calender b. 1732) ...countless others..and yours truly----who hits 58 - Top Hat Madhatter Ragtime Piano Man Mark Birnbaum! Happy Birthday to Black History Month as the spirit of Dr. King continues! BEST TO ALL!

All Hail Dr. King - says Top Hat Mark Birnbaum from the Piano

the Best Holiday to all --
in praise of the
Prince of
Peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All Hail Dr. King - says Top Hat Mark Birnmbaum from the Piano

the Best Holiday to all --
in praise of the
Prince of
Peace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!










the return of the Top Hat makes way--with yours truly---many thx to Slash, Madonna, Fred Astaire, Dee Snider, JFK countless others who recognize the power of the old world merged into the new,
Top was always great symbol of wealth and powere---whether you had any or not.
Portrayed beautifully in Gangs of New York, where every man wears a top hat,
It has been reemerging for some time----and its time is now!
I wear my plumed Mad Hatter Top Hat everyday!


Till next time

Top Hat New Year To All-Ragtime Mark Birnbaum

Mark Birnbaum (born February 11,1952) is an American pianist and New York City fashion plate, known for his ragtime recordings and his plumed Mad Hatter top hat (worn on a daily basis).

A classically-trained composer and pianist, and a television personality, Birnbaum earned a Doctorate in Musical Musical from Columbia University in 1982. In 1983, he composed and directed the off-Broadway show A Day Together, which was funded by the Helena Rubenstein Foundation, documented and shown on PBS, and traveled throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Encouraged by Andy Warhol, Vladimir Horowitz, Eubie Blake and a chance encounter with Richard Nixon, he moved to performing ragtime, blues, and jazz, appearing at Birdland, The Angry Squire, and Carnegie Hall.

From 1990 to 1993 he appeared nightly (dressed in Liberace-like flamboyance) as pianist/panelist on the Joe Franklin television show (WWOR-TV), often with Captain Lou Albano which provided national exposure.

At the 13th Street Theater in New York, Birnbaum has had several one-man shows—Ragtime '94, Ragtime '96 and Hot Piano: Ragtime, Blues & Jazz—which continues throughout the tri-state area. In January 2009 it was performed for the 1,000th time.

Nicknamed "Mr. Ragtime" by Captain Lou Albano and Joe Franklin, Birnbaum records, performs, and reinvents Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Bach, Scriabin, 1920s music, 1960s rock n' roll, and free jazz.

In 2005, Birnbaum was awarded an honorary degree from the Neupauer Conservatory (the Order of the Shield) for his work with the accordion. As a tribute to the birthplace of Jazz (and the great jazz pianist and composer), in 2006 Birnbaum released Jelly Roll Morton's Missing New Orleans (piano & vocals), a live CD.

In 2007-2008, Birnbaum and accordionist William Schimmel recorded Duality Wrecks, covering the spectrum of rock and roll, swing, ballads and punk in a one hour non-stop continuum (interludes composed by the performers) and Weather Watch - Free Jazz (which includes Schimmel's "Scriabin at a Picnic with His Mistress and Biographer"). "In Orbit" is scheduled for release in 2010. "Accordion Piano-Piano Accordion" was released in 2009 (with Birnbaum nicknamed 'Lucifer Bach').

In 2008, Birnbaum was awarded an ERM Media prize for his "Louisiana Elegy for Piano & Strings"; he has received over twenty "Meet The Composer" grants since 1979.

"Piano Improvisation as Composition in Real Time--The Pianist as Edison, Gandhi and Warrior".

As a pedagogue-

Birnbaum has a radical method for teaching the piano, involving meditation, deep breathing and slow motion transformation ("going faster by going slower"). Birnbaum suggests vegetarianism, black-strap molasses & cider vinegar, designed to further one's ability to learn faster with more energy.

The Art of Zen, The Japanese Art of War, William Blake, Milton and Dante are suggested readings. Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson (the father of Harlem stride piano), Herbie Hancock, Vladimir Horowitz and Liberace (as well as Miles Davis and John Coltrane) are included.

Fashion-

Away from the piano, Birnbaum functions as a fashion model - often regarded as the flashiest-dressed man in New York City; modern eyeglasses, cane and top hat with numerous plumes, two-tone platform shoes, brilliant suits and a full-length (faux) chinchilla coat. Liberace, the Mad Hatter, Elton John..or a pimp? Andy Warhol told Birnbaum, "America loves visual images".

In February 2009, art critic Ed McCormack (of Warhol - Interview fame) reviewed a portrait/painting of Mark Birnbaum by Andre van der Kerkhoff in 'Gallery & Studio' entitled 'Eccentric Spartan Extravagance'. Comparing Birnbaum's image to that of the Joker, Ed McCormack wrote "Only in a city as lawlessly various as New York can reality hold its own so handsomely against fantasy by producing a cast of characters who prove that truth can indeed surpass fiction. Perhaps as evidence of this, van der Kerkhoff submits "Eccentric Spartan Extravagance," an image of a gaunt-faced citizen sporting dark glasses and a long plume in his top hat whose everyday persona is a striking as that of any of Batman's arch rivals."