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."
