Anthony John Medeski (b. 28 June 1965) is an American jazz keyboards player and composer. He plays the acoustic piano and an eclectic array of keyboards, including the Hammond B3 organ, melodica, mellotron, clavinet, ARP String Ensemble, Wurlitzer Electric Piano, Moog Voyager Synthesizer, Wurlitzer 7300 Combo Organ, and Yamaha CS-1 Synthesizer (a "kids' toy"), among others. Medeski was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and grew up in Florida. After piano lessons (starting when he was five years old), he began as a teenager to perform with musicians such as Mark Murphy and Jaco Pastorius. He attended Pine Crest School. In 1983, after graduating high school, he began studying piano at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he also performed as a sideman with Dewey Redman, Billy Higgins, Bob Mintzer, Alan Dawson, and Mr. Jellybelly. Highly technically gifted, but also soulful, Medeski seems equally at home performing in accessible g