Three time winner of Keyboard
Instrumentalist of the Year by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Awards (WAMI)
(2000, 2004 & 2006), Sam Steffke is a graduate, Magna Cum Laude, of Boston’s
Berklee College of Music. While living in Boston, Sam worked both Jazz and
casual gigs with many area musicians, including a steady Jazz gig with
trombonist and Berklee faculty member Rick Stepton, a veteran of the Buddy Rich
Band.
A native of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Sam has lived in Milwaukee since 1985.
Since moving to Milwaukee, Sam has worked with a veritable who's who of the
local music scene. His local jazz performing credits include gigs with guitarist
Manty Ellis, (7 years at the Hyatt Regency Hotel), vocalist Penny Goodwin (in
addition to many club and festival dates over the years, Sam has served as
musical director of Ms. Goodwin's Generations in Jazz program since it began in
1989), blues singer Mary White, guitarist Dick Elliot, clarinetist Chuck Hedges, and the late vocalist Jessie Hauck.
Sam has also worked extensively with many local rock, funk, and blues groups,
including Greg Koch and the Tone Controls, Rainbow's End, Chameleon, Eddie Butts
(he also spent 2 1/2 years on the road with Butts in the late 70s), and
Snakebite, a powerhouse R&B band for which he wrote virtually all the horn
arrangements. Most recently he spent six years holding down the
keyboard chair in Streetlife, the house band of the Milwaukee Bucks. In addition
to playing at all the Bucks home games, Streetlife performed at Summerfest,
Rainbow Summer,
Jazz In The Park, the Red Mill East,
the Kettle Morraine Jazz Festival, the Ripon Jazz Festival, Brett Favre's
Steak House, and many other festivals and top venues around Wisconsin.
During his time with Streetlife, Sam recorded his first CD as a leader, entitled This Is My Real Job. The CD was released in 2000 to local acclaim and received airplay on radio stations WYMS and WJZI. It contains six standards and five Steffke originals and features sterling support from some of Milwaukee's top musicians. A second CD is in the works, and a third is in the planning stages.
Since leaving
Streetlife in the fall of 2004, Sam has returned to freelancing. He has
worked with many local bands including the Mr. Lucky Swing Syndicate,
Grooveology, Skeleton Crew, Andy LoDuca's World
Jazz Band, Exit, and the Herd of Cats. He also has performed with such outstanding Milwaukee
vocalists as Ellen Winters, Carmen Nickerson, Gloria Miller, Sharon Schmidt,
Rhonda Begos, and
the uber-fabulous Deirdre Fellner.
He has also performed with his own groups at Caroline's Jazz
Club, Jazz In the Park, and the Cedarburg Jazz Jubilee. And since 2006 he has
proudly occupied the keyboard chair in the house band for the Milwaukee chapter
of Chick Singer Night.
Sam's keyboard work can also be heard on the recordings of many local artists, including Ellen Winters' Secret of Life, Jim Kishline's In the Graces, , Mr. Lucky's Wrong-Way Charlie's Safari Adventure, Streetlife Live at the Red Mill East, Deirdre Fellner's Fixin' to Wail, Exit's Scenes From Next Week, Chameleon's Mind Body and Soul, Past & Present by Greg Koch and the Tone Controls, Sharon Schmidt's Dancing in the Kitchen, Skeleton Crew's debut cd, Weathered Heart by country artist Jim O'Hearn, and Aimin' to Please by singer/songwriter David de Wies.Most recently he worked with vocalist Gloria Miller on her second cd.
Sam has also had the honor of accompanying such heavy-hitting hornmen as jazz trumpet virtuoso Brian Lynch, "Saturday Night Live" trombonist Tom "Bones" Malone, and Bela Fleck/Dave Matthews Band saxophone demigod Jeff Coffin, at clinics they played at Cascio Interstate Music.
In addition, he has recorded piano tracks for the companion CDs of "Signature Licks" piano books by the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, including "Ben Folds Five" and "Best of Bebop Piano."
And finally, Sam maintains a busy (but never too busy!) teaching practice (all ages! All levels!) at the Steinway Piano Gallery (formerly Bradford's Pianos), 11550 West North Avenue; those interested in lessons may email Sam at samsteffke@wi.rr.com or call 414-771-8903.