Joe Alterman

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Joe Alterman studied music at New York University, where he received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Jazz Piano Performance. In addition to performances with Houston Person, Les McCann, Dick Gregory, and his own trio, among others, Alterman has performed at many world-renowned venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland and New York’s Blue Note, where Alterman opened many times for Ramsey Lewis. Alterman has released eight critically-acclaimed albums, his most recent being 2023's Joe Alterman Plays Les McCann: Big Mo & Little Joe. He was profiled three times by iconic journalist Nat Hentoff and was the subject of Hentoff’s very last piece on music in March 2016. Les McCann called Alterman “tiny, but only in stature; as a man and a musician he is already a giant," Ahmad Jamal called Alterman "a very special artist" and Ramsey Lewis called him “an inspiration to me” and his piano playing “a joy to behold.”

Also a budding journalist, Alterman has written liner notes to three albums by Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Nat Hentoff called one of Alterman’s columns on jazz “one of the very best pieces on the essence of jazz, the spirit of jazz, that I’ve ever read, and I’m not exaggerating.”

Alterman was also deeply honored to work with Zev Feldman and Les McCann’s manager, Alan Abrahams, as Associate Producer on Les McCann’s final and recent release, Never A Dull Moment.