Peekskill’s Century-Old Ford Piano Hosts Italian Jazz Days (Video)

When you enter the Ford Piano factory and encounter a beautiful Steinway and Sons grand piano, polished and tuned with music on the stand, it is hard to imagine it was once one of the broken and gutted pianos kept in the basement workshop.

Dozens of century-old pianos, suffering from old age, are stacked against each other in the “waiting room,” where they wait their turn to be rebuilt (something that takes about six months). Shelves of loose keyboards, gutted pianos, piles of pedals and carpentry tools are spread throughout the large area.

Pianos in every stage of repair stand beside each other; a shell of an instrument sits beside one that has only its soundboard and bridge, which is across the room from another that is only awaiting some strings and keys.

On Saturday, some of the more finished pianos upstairs will join their broken-down counterparts in the basement, as owner John Ford will be making room for his

Jazz buffs, professional musicians and curious beginners will gather at the Ford Piano factory on South Division Street in Peekskill to discuss how Beethoven was a jazz composer and he didn’t even know it. The discussion will kick off the Jazz Days free workshop at 11 a.m., which will also feature a master class on blues, swing and improvisation, jazz combo rehearsals and practice and an open rehearsal with the Ciacca Quintet, which will be performing at 8:30 p.m. (Details at the end of this article).

The world-class group features Antonio Ciacci on a special piano rebuilt for this occasion, with Daniella D’Erole on vocals, John Magnarelli on trumpet, Marco Panasica on double bass and Luka Santaniello on drums. Full details here.

“It is American music, but they are going to be jazzing it out,” Ford said.

The Ford family is used to building pianos because they have been experts at it for more than 100 years.

John’s grandfather started the business in 1897 and it is now in the hands of the fourth generation of Fords, as John’s sons are fully trained and helping him run the family business.

“John Patrick is God’s gift to piano tuning and Michael is the mechanical genius. Together the two are one of me,” Ford said of his sons.

The business mostly rebuilds pianos that get shipped from all corners of the country, and even the world. They have worked on pianos from every continent except Australia and, on their website, boast the work they’ve done for John Lennon, Duke Ellington and other famous pianists.

Ford employs six full-time workers and has other people he uses on part time basis.

“We get a lot of fun out of taking old pianos that are beat and dead and terrible and you cant look at them, into things of beauty,” Ford explains.

F Sharp

Ford’s latest project, which is even larger than a piano, is the concert hall located in the corner of his building at the intersection of James Street and S. Division Street.

The Hall will fit a 24-piece band on stage, will have a 275-person capacity and is “designed for acoustic perfection,” John said.

“I wanted to do this since I was 21-years-old. It took 30 years to find the right spot and essentially another 5 to arrange financing.. .I’m in the home stretch, I am right there.”

Ford says F Sharp’s opening is “imminent,” but the bar, kitchen, and carpentry work still needs to be completed.

He plans to hold weekly concerts eventually. 

“I have extensive contacts within the classical world, as well as the jazz and R&B worlds. This is the culmination of forty years of doing favors for people in the music business,” Ford said, explaining that he is counting on his cultivated relationships to bring world-class musicians to F Sharp.

“I have always been about the music, my family has always been about the music,” said Ford. “We do this because we love it.”

JAZZ DAYS, Saturday, Oct. 1:

The workshop is free. It begins at 11 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. Full schedule on fsharpny.com.

The concert begins at 8:30 p.m. and tickets are $25. The doors open at 7 p.m., wine and cheese will be served.  

Call  (914) 739-1224 or order your tickets online here.