Eric Baylin and Kazzrie Jaxen
Sunday October 11, 2026 at 2pm

Doors open 1:30pm

Admission $20 pre-sale - Buy Now on My River Tickets
Admission $25 at the door

Piano Lessons: Ecstatic Adventures with Two Keyboards
with Kazzrie Jaxen and Eric Baylin

Jazz artist Kazzrie Jaxen, and poet/musician Eric Baylin weave together an innovative program of improvisational music combined with stories and poetry exploring the theme of “piano lessons.”

The two artists, adventurers at heart, delve into their individual histories of learning piano at a young age and follow through to the present when they reach beyond boundaries to unleash sounds unmoored from old patterns. Along the way they revisit Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin, ride with ragtime rhythms of Scott Joplin and together with two keyboards springboard into new improvisational territory. A vocabulary of musical terms becomes a playful poetic counterpoint for the event turning the performance itself into a “piano lesson.”

In addition to musical influences, the two are inspired by the ecstatic Sufi poets Rumi and Hafiz as well as others who seek a life at once grounded in the everyday while soaring into other skies.

Pianist/Vocalist/Composer Kazzrie Jaxen has been a vital part of the improvising music scene for many years. Her musical expression ranges from free improvisation and jazz standards to original songs and vibrational journeys into the dreamtime. She has recorded for the Cadence, Jazz Records, and New Artists labels. Her performances have included concerts at NYC venues such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Recital Hall, Town Hall, The Blue Note, Birdland, The Stone, as well as concerts in the US and Europe. She has toured with her one-woman show combining original music, artwork, poetry and prose. She has created music for several award-winning short films and was the subject of an award-winning film by Swedish director Marcus Lindeen entitled "Dear Director." She is a 2026 DVAA grant recipient in "Compositional Arts" for her upcoming recording/performance project entitled "BioImprovising: Tuning into the Biorhythms of Biology, Biography, and the Biosphere."

Eric Baylin, poet, spoken word artist, musician and sculptor served as Sullivan County Poet Laureate for 2021-22. After studying classical piano seriously as a teenager, he left music behind for many decades to pursue work as a sculptor, poet, and teacher. Earlier this year he responded to the call and returned to playing piano. As a poet he is known for his wit and love of wordplay and has given numerous readings throughout the county. As a recipient of a 2024 Literary Grant from DVAA, his goal was to work with musicians to create new compositions blending poetry with music. His ventures into rhythmic experimental poetry led to collaborative vocal performances with Jaxen and more recently to their improvisational “conversations” with two keyboards.

The two have been collaborating for over two years having performed at DVAA Krauss Hall and the Tusten Theatre as well as at the Arts Nest a year ago with a program entitled “Confluence of Dreamers.” Both are also seasoned storytellers and have performed with the local writers’ collective, “Yarnslingers.”

After lengthy conversations about their early experiences playing the piano and their unfolding relationship to the instrument, the two have crafted an evening of storytelling, poetry, and music that blends multiple genres and open-ended improvisations. Their working process has been one of perpetual discovery and reaching for imaginative possibilities that lie beyond perceived boundaries. As such, the evening will undoubtedly offer surprises.