James Rhodes

English pianist James Rhodes (b1975).
Rhodes' story is an unusual one. He has no formal academic musical education or dedicated mentoring. The title of the debut album "Razor Blades Little Pills and Big Pianos", hints at the suffering that dogged Rhodes's childhood and early adult life. Classical music became his solace and key to his survival. It was Bach, Beethoven and Chopin, not Faith Hope and Charity, that offered comfort.
While attending a concert by the great Russian pianist Grigori Sokolov, Rhodes's childhood idol, he introduced himself to the piano Masterclass maestro Bryce Morrison. This brief and recent meeting led to a life-changing experience. James Rhodes found in Morrison someone who would finally open the door to a cellar full of notes that desperately craved application and in so doing gave him a path that lead him out of the darkness.