This jazz pianist, who is up for a major Indy award, practices the same meditation as the Beatles

In 2007, a then-15-year-old Keelan Dimick stood up after his jazz piano performance at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. He felt satisfied with the music he'd just made, and the audience's ovation told him they were, too. 

"After I finished, people were standing up and cheering," Dimick said. "And I was taking a bow, and it totally changed me for my life. I was like, 'This is definitely what I want to do.' " 

Now, the 27-year-old Dimick lives in Miami, having completed tours in five countries and studying at the Manhattan School of Music and the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Florida. He's the third of five finalists for the American Pianists Awards' 2019 competition. From September through February, each pianist is visiting Indianapolis to perform at Eskenazi Hospital, work collaboratively with high schools and perform at the Jazz Kitchen.

Keelan Dimick is one of five jazz pianist finalists for the American Pianists Awards.

The latter counts toward their overall score. In April, all five will return for the final round of competition. Along with Dimick, the other finalists are Kenny Banks Jr., Emmet Cohen, Dave Meder and Billy Test.

Dimick will perform at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Jazz Kitchen. Tickets are $10 to $35.

IndyStar met up with Dimick on Thursday before a performance at Eskenazi Hospital to talk about his start with improvisation, commitment to Transcendental Meditation and connecting with jazz trumpet great Randy Brecker.

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Billy Test:A jazz piano finalist has toured with Allman Brothers drummer

1. So how did he become so good by age 15?

The short answer: His teacher, Justin Nielsen, noticed Dimick's penchant for improvising. Nielsen gave him a few notes and told him to play around over the bass line. 

"I became obsessed with that, and I took lessons with him every day for the entire summer," Dimick said.

That was shortly before the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival competition. After his final performance at age 15, he was hooked on performing. And he won his division.

2. He practices Transcendental Meditation

Before Dimick moved to Idaho and studied with Nielsen, he lived in Fairfield, Iowa. Thanks to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi — known for bringing the Beatles and Mia Farrow to higher spiritual planes — the city is an enlightenment capital where residents are known to sit without moving for 20 minutes twice a day or so.

In the still moments, Transcendental Meditation quiets the mind to bring forth "a peaceful level of your own awareness," according to the technique's website, tm.org.

"I come from that tradition and that town where that's just what you do," Dimick said. "My mom taught me when I was 10 years old, and I started getting really into it when I was about 16, with high school starting (to be) a little bit tedious. And I noticed right even from that age that it had a huge impact on the way that I went along with my day."

He continues to practice the technique.

3. He mixes tradition with his own newer style

Jazz pianists generally pick from two paths, Dimick said. The first is more traditional, encompassing the time up to the bebop era that began in the early 1940s. The second is focusing on a personal sound.

"If you ever want to figure out what your sound is, just sit at the piano and start composing," Dimick said.

Dimick himself mixes the two styles in performance, but he prefers to practice them separately for simplicity's sake.

"There is a way to mesh the two, but it's good to almost pick one or the other when you're practicing," he said.

4. He's performed with Grammy-winner Randy Brecker

The well-known trumpeter and flugelhornist traveled to Miami recently for a performance that Dimick was part of. Brecker studied at Indiana University. Along with his solo and collaborative work, he can be heard on the albums of James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Parliament/Funkadelic, Frank Sinatra and Frank Zappa.

Dimick had played with Brecker's daughter before in New York, which gave Dimick an "in" with the well-known trumpeter, he said.

"He gave me some really great advice career-wise, and we just hit it off really well," Dimick said.

"I think that more important than the music that happens just in that one performance, it's the connection that you make because that's what … is going to matter for the rest of your life. The music will just come from that connection."

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Call IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.