Musician Jeff Grosser will play accordion at the Oasis of Music beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25, at Trinity Commons in Lewiston.

Dr. Jeff Grosser was born and raised in New York City. He had dual careers being a dental surgeon and professional musician. After graduating from Queens College of the City University of New York, he went to NYU College of Dentistry and did his residency through the Einstein College of Medicine, as well as studying music at a special program at The Julliard School of Music to which he was accepted after training and coaching by Kleon Rapatikis.

He has performed three times at Carnegie Hall, playing accordion, piano, and plectrum banjo. Accordion was his first instrument and he played it extensively throughout the Metropolitan area. He started playing plectrum banjo in the late 60‘s and was leader of the Rush Street Band for 13 years and a regular banjoist at the famed Red Onion in Manhattan.

He played at many other metropolitan New York City area clubs including the Banjo Inn, Chester’s, the Golden Banjo, both Bourbon Barrels, Calamity Jane’s, the famed Swan Club and a, number of other well known venues in the NYC area — including Ricardo’s, where Tony Bennett got his start. He has played with many groups including the Wildwoods The New Orleans Nighthawks, and The Smith Street Society. He did road work for Your Father’s Mustache and was the regular partner with the late great stride pianist George Holmes. He worked with superstars Ed Sullivan, Jerry Lewis, and Sammy Davis Jr. He leads The Razcals Jazz Band and the The Ragtime Razcals of New England and has worked with many groups in New England including the acclaimed Royal River Philharmonic Jazz Band, Doc’s Banjo Band, the State Street Traditional Jazz Band, the Clam Flat Five, the Classic Jazz Band, the Moose Mountain Jazz Band, Bath Municipal Swing Band, The Ambassadors Big Band, and, recently, The Augusta Symphony Orchestra.

He has played for the High Teas at the castles in Ireland, and played in England, Scotland, France, Switzerland, and Italy these past few years.

He performs regularly and has completed projects for public and commercial television and radio, the Phoenix Symphony, the Portland Conservatory of Music, Deertrees Theater, Lincoln Theater, the Rockland, Boothbay Harbor, and Clinton opera houses. He attends many jazz and banjo conventions doing performances and giving workshops, as well as serving three time as a Board of Director for the All Frets Organization and is presently President Emeritus of the Fretted Instrument Guild of America’s All Frets Organization.

Besides his banjo, accordion, guitar work, he is a regular violinist with the Augusta Symphony Orchestra and continues to perform regularly with his accordion, piano, guitar, banjo and violin in many varied genres, including substitute pipe organ playing on occasion.

He prefers to consider himself a musician rather than being associated as being an artist on any one particular instrument.

The Oasis of Music is a weekly music series of performances of roughly thirty minutes, running from September to May. Admission is free, with donations accepted. The musical genres vary greatly, in largely, but not exclusively, acoustic formats. Trinity Commons is located at 247 Bates St., Lewiston. For more information, call 207-344-3106.

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