Steinway 2-Piano Festival
Mo Pleasure & Vana Gierig
PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)
MO'VANA has been a unique project of pianists Vana Gierig & Mo Pleasure. This collaboration showcases their joint musical endeavour, which they have brought to audiences all around the world. From Rome to Mexico City, to Germany and back to New York City, where they sold out their reunion concert. They are delighted to be performing as part of the Steinway 2-Piano Festival at PizzaExpress.
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Morris ‘Mo’ Pleasure’s professional career spans the world of American R & B and pop, through his work with Ray Charles, George Duke, Earth Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Mary J Blige, Natalie Cole, David Foster and Bette Midler to name but a few. Come join multi-instrumentalist Mo and his incredible jazz/funk band as they play Mo’s original material as well as hit song covers from his touring/recording career. One of the greatest multi-instrumentalists of his generation, Morris “Mo” Pleasure has been at the forefront of American popular music for the last three decades. Mo began his professional career playing with Ray Charles before moving on to working with the likes of George Duke, Christina Aguilera, Chaka Khan, Mary J Blige, Natalie Cole, David Foster to name but a few, and he is currently Musical Director for the iconic Bette Midler.
German-born, New York-based pianist Vana Gierig uses his music as a language. This Berklee and New England Conservatory-trained ivory tickler has been turning heads with his own work, and through sideman stints with everybody from über-hip cabaret singer Ute Lemper to violinist Regina Carter. In 2024, Vana sold out the world-renowned BIRDLAND Jazz Club in Manhattan in May, and his subsequent performance at the gigantic BLUE NOTE in Sao Paulo, Brasil in August. Back in New York in September, he played the Chez Vana Season Finale with world-renowned cellist Jaques Morelenbaum, which received so much acclaim that they are planning a future project together.
