By Greta Cuyler
For former Andover resident Sean Higgins, taking piano lessons was a lucrative gig.
As a teenager, he earned 50 cents every week that he told his piano teacher he had practiced since his last lesson.
It seems Higgins was telling the truth all those weeks.
The 24-year-old has just released his own debut compact disc called The New Thought, a collection of original orchestral jazz compositions.
"I know that what I create is truly original," he said. "You have a certain freedom in jazz that lets you express yourself."
Higgins, who counts John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner and Kenny Kirkland among his musical inspirations, plays piano on the album. He graduated from Andover High School in 1999 and went on to earn both college and graduate degrees in music.
During the nearly 10 years he lived in Andover, Higgins was an avid runner and captained both the cross-country and track teams. He took piano lessons from local music teacher Judy Schmidt and played trumpet in the school jazz band beginning at West Middle School.
He credits Schmidt with his success - and the extra pocket change during high school.
"When you work really hard at it, there's no other feeling in the world once you accomplish your goal," he said. He wrote the album's compositions over the last couple of years and recorded last July.
The result is a collaboration between Higgins and two former music classmates, Iajhi Hampden, who attended University of North Carolina-Wilmington with Higgins, plays the drums, and Josh Ramos, who attended University of Northern Illinois with Higgins, plays bass. When the three friends sat down to play, Higgins said something magical happened.
"When we got into actually playing, there was stuff that came out that we never really talked about. It started from a simple idea, everyone had their input, and by the end, something special developed out of it."
Schmidt remembers something special about Higgins.
"Sean is a highly motivated student," she wrote in his college recommendation. "His commitment and hard work made it possible to achieve challenges, even beyond extended horizons. Sean is high-spirited, creative and his quest to discover made him enjoyable and fun to teach."
These days Higgins is enjoying the success of his debut album and has discovered a way to pursue music full-time, thanks to practical career advice he learned in school. He plays and teaches piano and works on soundtracks, arrangements and compositions for independent films and promotional videos. He lives in New Jersey.
He has also performed some high-profile gigs, including performances at the Dizzy Gillespie Coca Cola Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Northern Illinois University Liberace Jazztet.
The New Thought from Sean Higgins Music costs $15 plus shipping and is available at seanhiggins.net.
Writeen by Greta Cuyler of the Andover Townsman published January 5, 2006
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