George Mesterhazy, a N.J.-based jazz pianist and arranger, died of natural causes at his home on Thursday.
The Grammy-nominated musician, who just turned 59 last Sunday, had recently released a new album "Live at Jazz Standard" with world-famous singer Paula West. Mesterhazy and West were planned to play together at the Manhattan jazz club next month.
West described playing with Mesterhazy as "the best thing that ever happened to me musically."
"I'm going to miss hearing him create," said West in an interview with philly.com.
Mesterhazy was born in 1953 in Hungary and immigrated to the United States with his family in 1956 when the Hungarian Revolution broke out. They first settled in upstate New York and moved to Atlantic City where he started playing the guitar and trumpet. He relocated to Los Angeles after switching to piano and eventually became well known as pianist in Cape May, N.J.
In his lifetime, Mesterhazy played with Les Paul, Bernadette Peters and other famous musicians. He also ran a jazz piano program at Rowan University and managed The Merion Inn in Cape May.
Mesterhazy is survived by his father and four children.
The George Mesterhazy Foundation will be established for music education, performance, and preservation.
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