Slamchica
Lenny Kravitz teamed up with Steinway & Son to design the Kravitz Grand Limited Edition. For this personal passion project, Lenny and his Kravitz Design team dissected every aspect of the Steinway’s construction, looking at the case, action and even the screws to create a completely new look unlike anything Steinway has ever produced.
The base piano is the Steinway Model B — a 6ft 11in (211 cm) grand. But Kravitz has transformed it into a visually exciting work of art using an eclectic mix of inspirational styles — African Art, Art Deco (French chic) and elements of Art Moderne (American sleek).
The expert artisans at Steinway’s Queens facility spend 200 hours hand-carving each instrument, the rim of which is crafted from 15 layers of rock maple, then accented with two layers of Macassar ebony veneer.
Most of the design elements on the luxe model are envisioned and hand-picked by Kravitz himself, such as the “crackle” metallic finish on the cast iron plate, solid bronze castings for the top stick and pedal lyre, custom metal finishes for the pedals, brass music trays, hinges, and a numbered brass “Edition” plaque.
Steinway will produce a mere 10 pianos, each priced at $500,000—with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Harlem School for the Arts. “I studied there when I was a kid,” Kravitz notes of the organization, an official Steinway partner for nearly a decade. “It was really a wonderful fit.”
