Neal Creque

Jazz pianist/organist Neal Creque, the youngest of eight siblings, was born in 1940 in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. His father taught classical piano and wrote poetry. At five, Creque started taking piano lessons; at nine he was working a live radio gig with his father called Creque and Creque. He moved to the States in 1956 and quietly built a solid reputation in the jazz field until his untimely death on December 1, 2000, of kidney cancer. He lived in Olmsted Falls (a suburb of Cleveland), OH. Creque came to the States to attend Theil College in Greenville, PA. From there, he spent four years in the Air Force, where he distinguished himself as a member of the marching band; he wanted to be a pilot, but poor eyesight squelched that desire. When his duty ended, he settled in Miami and played with a rock & roll band for two years; next came a relocation to New York, NY, where he hooked up with Pucha & the Latin Soul, then percussionist Mongo Santamaria. He became a sought-after session player and participated in countless recording sessions, including Stanley Turrentine, Theresa Brewer, Leon Thomas, Grant Green, Harold Ousley, Bernard Purdie, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. During his New York stay, he became temperamental singer Carmen McCrae's musical director; despite her rep, Creque never had a problem with the easy listening balladeerdress; she wanted him to accompany her to the West Coast, but he declined, opting to move with his wife Nina and daughter Kim, to Cleveland, OH, in 1973. Creque met Nina while touring in Toledo, OH, while he was still living in New York; they married in Cleveland shortly after the love connection. Nina comes from a musical background herself; her stepfather, Lee Bailey, was the lead singer of the Swan Silvertones. Nina sang in bands and...