Jazz pianist/composer Roberta Piket was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1966; the daughter of Viennese conductor and composer Frederick Piket, she attended the New England Conservatory but initially pursued a career in computer engineering, quitting after a year to return to music. A protege of pianist Richie Beirach, Piket spent two years with the all-female big band Diva, and in 1993 placed second in the International Thelonious Monk-BMI Composers' Competition; after recording with artists including Lionel Hampton, the Jamie Baum Quartet and Stephan Crump, she made her debut as a leader in 1997 with Unbroken Line. Live at the Blue Note followed two years later. ~ Jason Ankeny