Los Angeles · 30 Years in the Room

Bill
Steinway

Composer Keyboardist Producer MD

30 years making music with the people who matter. From the Jazz Crusaders to the Grammy stage — and still playing because the right room is worth everything.

Bill Steinway
30+ Years as a Working Musician
~10 Years with the Jazz Crusaders
2 Groove Legacy Albums
MD Grammy Awards — Annie Lennox
8+ World-Class Guests on Cascade

Musical Director for Annie Lennox
at the Grammy Awards

Bill served as Musical Director and pianist for Annie Lennox's Nostalgia Project — a role that put him on the Grammy stage in front of a live national broadcast audience. Not a sideman credit. The MD chair.

Grammy Awards
Annie Lennox — Nostalgia Project
MD & Piano
Grammy Awards
Annie Lennox — Live Performance
MD & Piano
Grammy Awards
Annie Lennox — Grammy Stage
MD & Piano

In His Own Words

"It's always about the melody, the artist, or the song — not what you might think would sound good to you."
On groove
"I should be the quietest thing in my monitor. I want to interact with the entire band — not just play to a click."
On listening
"The best thing in a new musical situation is to shut up and listen."
On new gigs
"Understanding your role in a rhythm section is the most imperative skill."
On sideman work
"I'm pretty versatile — not locked into one type of music. If the music is good, I like it."
On range

The Rooms He's Been In

Bill Steinway has been making music professionally in Los Angeles for over thirty years. Sessions, sideman work, touring, producing, bandleading. He's been in the rooms most musicians spend their careers hoping to reach.

"After 30 years, what still gets me is walking into a room with the right people and making something happen. That's the whole thing."

He toured and recorded with the Jazz Crusaders for nearly a decade — not as a fan, but as a working member of that band. When the original members passed, he co-founded Groove Legacy with Paulie Cerra: original music in that tradition, not a tribute act. He performed on the Grammy Awards with Annie Lennox.

What he brings to every room: the ability to make the music better without making himself the story. Players like that are the ones you call back.

Grammy Awards — Musical Director Annie Lennox Nostalgia Project. Not a sideman credit — the MD chair.
Jazz Crusaders Nearly a decade touring and recording — part of that legacy
Randy Brecker After the Syracuse debut: "You should be headlining this."
Groove Legacy Two albums. 20 original compositions. World-class guests.

Work With Bill

01
Groove Legacy
Book the full band for festivals, listening venues, corporate, and private events. Jazz-funk-soul. World-class guest roster. No smooth jazz. No filler.
02
Session & Sideman
First-call LA keyboard player for 30+ years. Touring, sessions, TV, and film. Experienced across jazz, blues, soul, funk, and pop. He fits in anywhere — and makes the whole band sound better.
03
Musical Director
Available as MD for touring artists. Rhythm section coaching, arrangement, live production. Deep experience turning a collection of good players into a tight band.
04
Music Production
Producing tracks for independent jazz, soul, and funk artists who want the real thing. Co-writing, arrangement, and full production with strong conceptual vision for how a band should sound.
Sync & Licensing
The Groove Legacy catalog is BMI-registered. 20 tracks. Instrumentals and stems available.
View Sync Catalog →

Who He's Played With

Thirty years of sessions, tours, and stages across jazz, blues, soul, pop, and rock. This is the short list. The featured names are artists with whom he had sustained working relationships — not one-off appearances.

30+
Years. Countless rooms.
The Jazz Crusaders Annie Lennox Stevie Wonder Joe Bonamassa Larry Carlton Randy Brecker Robben Ford Michael Landau Al Green Ray Charles Aretha Franklin Tak Matsumoto Ricky Peterson Reese Wynans Rickie Lee Jones Eros Ramazzotti Sara Bareilles Boz Scaggs Carrie Underwood Rod Stewart The Fabulous Thunderbirds Natalie Cole Patti Austin Sergio Mendes Jeffrey Osborne Lenny Kravitz Chaka Khan Peabo Bryson Freddy Jackson Howard Hewett Brenda Russell Adam Ant Ronny Laws Dazz Band Warren Hill Gary Wright

Groove Legacy

Two albums of original jazz-funk-soul. Co-written and co-produced with Paulie Cerra. The band Bill built when he decided not to play tribute shows — and it turned out better than any tribute could have been.

Cascade album cover
Coming Soon · 2025

Cascade

Eleven compositions. No throwaways — Billy's own words. The most fully realized Groove Legacy record, featuring some of the finest musicians alive today.

Joe Bonamassa Randy Brecker Tak Matsumoto Michael Landau Ricky Peterson Reese Wynans
Full Discography at GrooveLegacy.com
Groove Legacy
Live Performance
Live Session
Bill Steinway — Keys

Let's Talk

Whether you're booking a session, looking for a musical director, exploring a production project, or booking Groove Legacy — reach out directly. Billy reads his own email.