Toombs County, Georgia History and Genealogy Project

Toombs County, Georgia

When He Plays The Sound Perks Up

"I can't believe it has been 20 years now that I have been making my music professionally," he says in "A note from Jeff" on his impressive Internet Website.

"When I sat down to play that first church service at the age of 13, I would never have believed my music would lead me to some many exotic destination around the world."

For the past two years, Jeff has entertained thousands weekly as an on-board pianist for Carnival Cruise Lines and if that gig hasn't exactly taken him "around the world," it at least has taken him all around the Caribbean and to destinations along the east coast of the continent all the way from Canada to Mexico.

Area Ties Strong

Jeff's mother is the former Dorothy Jean Horne, daughter of the late James H. (Jim) Horne and Irma Lee Phillips Horne, who lived in the Thompson Pond Road area of northern Montgomery County. She’s the sister of current Vidalian James L. Horne of Morningside Drive and Sue Horne (Mrs. Mel) Taylor of Hugh Taylor Road. West Virginia native who had an earlier career with the F.B.I., own a real estate management firm in Savannah. The met while she was working in Augusta and he was in the military at Fort Gordon there. They lived for a while in Washington but have been in Savannah since 1955.

All four of their children were born in Savannah. The eldest, Donna, currently lives in Augusta, where her husband is a physician. The two youngest, Tony and Leann, still live in Savannah.

Jeff, the second born, began studying piano privately as a young child and started performing at church services at age 13. After graduating from Windsor Forest High School and attending Armstrong Atlantic University, both in Savannah, he was awarded a music scholarship a the University of South Carolina in Columbia, where he majored in piano performance.

While in Columbia, his Internet biography says, he "was a finalist in a South Carolina concerto competition with Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor by Tchaikovsky," described as "on of classical music's most difficult compositions."

Like Roger Williams?

Although his early training was in church music and the classics, Jeff now plays music of wide-ranging diversity. His signature style as an entertainer was described by one admirer as "like Roger Williams, except better."

In 1989 Jeff began recording solo piano, and in 1992 he moved from Columbia to Charlotte. In the North Carolina city he "became musical director and pianist for two restaurants that featured a cabaret-style dinner show," the Website says.

In 1995, the bio adds, Jeff was "selected as one of America’s leading pianists to perform on a special tribute to Barbra Streisand." The Website shows color photos of the covers of four of his CDs – Tranquil Moments, The Gold Collection, Reflections and Songs of Love – and includes listing of the songs or compositions played in each. His sixth CD was scheduled to be released in January.

The CDs can be ordered through the Website, jeffperks.com/. Or they probably can be found at Phillips Pharmacy in Vidalia, since that firm's proprietor, William Phillips, is a first cousin to Jeff's mother and has stocked the CDs in the past.

Those who just want to read more about this talented and successful grandson of Montgomery County – and see several pictures of him at work or play – may also do so by visiting his Website.

You’ll find him quite interesting.

E-mail: raytapley@juno.com

The Advance, Wednesday, February 16, 2005, page 5L.

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