Charlottesville native Evan Mook moved home from touring internationally in the fall of 2003 at the invitation to take over for his childhood teacher, Charlottesville’s first Suzuki piano teacher, when she retired. For the previous two years, he had been traveling with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, the big band that launched Frank Sinatra’s career. He had spent the previous five years as a Jazz Studies major at Virginia Commonwealth University and freelancing as a jazz pianist in Richmond. For over a decade, Evan played regularly at Lemaire, one of two 5-diamond restaurants in VA, where he honed his skills as a solo jazz pianist in upscale venues and soon became a renowned solo jazz pianist in Central Virginia. While solo jazz piano remains Evan’s forte, he enjoys playing jazz with ensembles of all sizes, as well as classical.