Joseph Prostakoff
classical piano teacher
Joseph Prostakoff, whom Barry calls ‘Prostikov’, was a New York classical piano teacher; Barry studied with him from the late 1970s until the teacher’s death in the early 1980s and called him the hippest cat he ever met.
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What Barry says
Believing Padwa had died, Barry auditioned with a teacher on 57th Street, but Joshua, one of his own students, suggested he try his own teacher, saying he was different and like Barry. Later in the interview Barry says a pianist told him about Prostikov while he was teaching for Jazz in Action.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶239Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶263
At the audition Barry said he had been working on strengthening his fingers; he had been hanging around Joe Zawinul, whose little finger could be heard all around the block. The teacher replied that Barry probably wouldn’t want to study with him, because he didn’t believe in fingers.
Barry could only laugh, since he didn’t believe in fingers either: playing with Max Roach, whose tempos were very fast by the time the piano solo came round, had long ago taught him to forget fingering and find a way to play five notes at once.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶241Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶243Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶245
The teacher had him make M’s and O’s with his elbows. Barry says those are the shapes you end up making most of the time, as you learn to play five notes in one go.
Barry calls him the hippest cat he ever met and says that, had he lived longer, Barry would be a much better classical pianist. He then corrects himself: with Sophia Rosoff, who came from the same teacher, his training carried on.
Barry says this teacher and Sophia both learned from the same woman, though each took different things from her. From the two of them he learned to play with an ease where you never feel anything in your fingers, and he never had the carpal tunnel trouble many pianists get.
Barry dates his lessons with Prostikov to the late 1970s and says the teacher died in the early 1980s, after which he went to Sophia.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶248Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶249Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶255
In his own words
He said, “you probably don’t want to take from me,” I said, “Why?” He said, “’cause I don’t believe in fingers.”
He was the hippest cat I ever met. If he had lived longer, I would be a... better pianist
This teacher would say to make M’s with your elbows, make O’s, you know.
I could say I learned something from him, I learned something from her you know, about how to play this instrument, and how to play it with the ease where you never feel anything on your fingers.
Prostikov was in the late ‘70s. I missed a little period there. And he died in the ‘80s, in the early ‘80s.
Every mention
0 moments in the recordings, 0 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
In the interviews and notes
Looking for a new teacher after, as he thought, Padwa had died, Barry auditioned with one on 57th Street, then took the advice of his student Joshua, who said his own teacher was different and like Barry. At the audition the teacher said he didn’t believe in fingers.
Barry laughed at the remark, because Max Roach’s fast tempos had already taught him to give up on fingering and find ways to play five notes at once.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶241Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶243
The teacher asked him to draw M’s and O’s with his elbows, the movements Barry says you mostly end up using when playing five notes in one go.
Barry calls him the hippest cat he ever met and thinks he would be a better classical pianist had the teacher lived longer, though Sophia, from the same lineage, kept his training going.
Barry went to Sophia after the teacher died. Both had studied with the same woman, and from both he learned an easy way of playing that spared him hand injuries such as carpal tunnel.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶248Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶249
Barry names him as Prostikov, places the lessons in the late 1970s and says he died in the early 1980s.
Barry says he heard about Prostikov from a pianist while he was teaching for a group called Jazz in Action, the class he then promised to keep going for good.