Pianist Elliott Steger and the internal medicine of music

By Chet Williamson

During the day he is a doctor of internal medicine. In his other life, Dr. Elliott Steger is an accomplished composer and concert jazz pianist with five CDs of original music to his credit.

The operative word is “practice” in serving two disciplines. Steger not only finds the time to attend to each, he offers one in service of the other. All proceeds from his recordings go to the American Cancer Society, Alzheimer’s Association and Multiple Sclerosis Society. The good doctor performs with his band this weekend at Tower Hill Botanic Garden and all of his CDs will be available at the show for $10.

The music was there long before medicine in Steger’s life. He grew up in a musical family in the Bronx. His older brother is Alan Steger, a professional jazz pianist based in San Francisco.

Elliott began classical training at the age of four and recalls theory courses at Manhattan School of Music. As a teenager he played in rock ’n’ roll bands and considered a career in music, but changed direction in high school.

“That was a crossroads for me,” he says. “I was thinking, ‘Well, do I want to be a professional musician like my big brother?’ I was really good in math and science. I decided, ‘Well I can always do music on the side.’ ”

Steger graduated from Brown University in 1978, where he completed his pre-med requirements. From there he went to University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

He continued his love of music through medical school, but admits, that’s when practicing became difficult. “It was just too intense,” he says. “I was still playing because I have to play. I have that need to always play music.”

Although classically trained, improvisation has always been part of Steger’s musical expression and while in med-school he started composing. “That was just a spontaneous event,” he says. “I hear music in my head. I hear a melody and add rhythm and chords to it. I was improvising on my own by ear.”

At the same time, Steger says his jazz playing came much later in his development. “I decided after listening to a lot of jazz that I didn’t have a clue what they were doing and that I really should get some teaching.”

Steger hooked up with Makoto Takenaka at Berklee College of Music. “He doesn’t teach there any more, but when I was starting out with him 20 years ago, he took me on as one of his only private students. Iíve been taking lessons ever since.”

Steger released his first album, Images in 1998. “It was really more rock and classically influenced than jazz, almost a New Age-style like George Winston,” he says. “It was pretty melodies, simple chords and very little improvisation.”

The second release is aptly called Transition.

“I was turning at that point into more jazz and blues. The third, fourth and fifth recordings were all jazz,” Steger says.

Through his studies with Takenaka, Steger was introduced to two of his longtime battery-mates, bassist Lello Molinari and Jon Hazilla, who are also Berklee faculty members. Rounding out the band is percussionist Christine Horn.

Steger singles out the late pianist Bill Evans as a major source of inspiration.

“He’s my hero,” the doctor says. Switching into the present tense to elaborate, Steger adds, “He’s got such a wonderful sense of melody and harmonization. He has an impeccable way of swinging. He’s the one I aspire to be like.” o