Ed Alstrom

Edward Alstrom (born October 12, 1957) is an American musician best known for being the weekend stadium organist for the Major League Baseball's New York Yankees.

Early life and education Alstrom was born to Eleanor "Petty" (née Bissinger) and Ludwig "Eddie" Alstrom in Paterson, New Jersey. He was raised in Ridgewood, New Jersey. He began practicing playing the organ at home on his family’s Hammond M-3 at the age of five. He learned to play guitar, drums and bass as a teenager. Alstrom worked at Casio in Dover, New Jersey as the Product/Marketing Manager for the Keyboard Division from 1985 through 2003. He assisted with Casio's R&D in Japan, composed and arranged the music that went into the keyboards, and produced a video for Casio entitled "Play Electronic Keyboard Today."

He lives in Montville, New Jersey, where he has been married to music educator and pianist Maxine Alstrom since 1985.

Career

Alstrom describes himself as an "itinerant musician" and has played for synagogues, churches, feature films, Broadway musicals and at Yankee Stadium. He has performed with Chuck Berry, Leonard Bernstein, Bette Midler, Herbie Hancock, and Steely Dan. He played in the pit bands for "Leader of the Pack" and "Hairspray." He is in a trio called Acid Cabaret which formed in 1997.

In 2004 Alstrom took over for Yankees’ longtime organist, Eddie Layton, who retired after 37 years with the team. Layton asked him to perform "New York, New York," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "Happy Birthday," "The Star-Spangled Banner," and "O Canada" in an audition that Alstrom says took five minutes. He played at the final game at the old Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21, 2008, playing "Goodnight, Sweetheart" among other music.

Discography Peter Hofmann – Live 86 (Arranger, CBS, 1986) The Record People Are Coming (Haywire, 1996) Acid Cabaret (Haywire, 2002) Gettin’ Organ-ized (Haywire, 2010) This Idea Of Humanity (Haywire, 2026)