Mike LeDonne

Mike LeDonne is a veteran New York pianist and Hammond B-3 organist, a longtime anchor of the city's mainstream and hard-bop scene known for a hard-swinging, blues-rooted style. Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1956 into a musical family, he studied with Jaki Byard at the New England Conservatory before moving to New York, where an early stint at Jimmy Ryan's brought him alongside elders such as Roy Eldridge and Papa Jo Jones. He spent eleven years in Milt Jackson's quartet, eventually serving as its musical director, and has also worked with Benny Goodman and Benny Golson. He leads the Groover Quartet, his organ band with Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, and Joe Farnsworth, whose long-running Tuesday-night residency at Smoke became a New York institution. A former Juilliard faculty member, he founded New York City's first Disability Pride march in 2015.