Rossi, Mick
Biography
Born: 1956
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Studies:
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Website: http://www.mickrossi.com/
Pianist, composer, percussionist, conductor and arranger Mick Rossi, a member of the Philip Glass ensemble as both percussionist and keyboardist and is known for his diverse work in the NY Downtown scene and beyond. He has performed and recorded with artists Alex Acuna, Steven Bernstein, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser, Billy Drewes, Peter Erskine, Eric Friedlander, Vinny Golia, Eddie Gomez, Gerry Hemingway, Ron Horton, Elissa Lala, Andy Laster, Michael Sarin, Foday Suso and Cuong Vu, to name a few. Rossi is a regular at the Knitting Factory as both leader and sideman on several different ensembles, including Biohazard, the Anti-Matter Band, and the Mahavishnu Project. Rossi's work also has been heard throughout the United States and Europe including performances at the NY, Knitting Factory, Fringe, Singapore, MATA, Ravenna, Lincoln Center, Les Nuits de Fourviere, and Montreux jazz festivals, WNYC's "New Sounds" and NPR's "All Things Considered" as well as in Russia and the Far East. As a leader, recent recordings include the critically acclaimed "They Have A Word For Everything" (with Dave Douglas - Knitting Factory), "Inside The Sphere" (with Kermit Driscoll and Charles Descarfino - Cadence), "Nosferatu," his live score for the silent horror film for percussion ensemble, twelve double basses, clarinet (Andy Laster) and piano (recently featured on WNYC's New Sounds with John Schaefer - Dreambox Media), John Valentino's "Searching Souls" with Vinny Golia and Wadada Leo Smith (as drummer and pianist), "Eight Shorts In Search of David Lynch" (with Freidlander, Sarin and Valentino - ToneScience) and "New Math" with trumpeter Russ Johnson (ToneScience). Available now on OmniTone Records is "One Block From Planet Earth" (his second quintet recording - live from the Knit Main Space) and in summer 2005, "Songs From The Broken Land" (for solo piano). He is currently guest curator for the up-coming MATA (Music At The Anthology) Festival in NY in September.
A regularly commissioned composer, Rossi has amassed a vast continuum of work, encompassing a multiplicity of disciplines and media, some of which include composing and performing music for the concert hall, dance, new music and gamelan ensembles, universities, film, and recordings. Notable venues include the Knitting Factory Composers Series, Jazz At Lincoln Center, New Wave Festival, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, The Acropolis, WKCR, The Philadelphia Academy of Music, The American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, Relache, The Eastman School of Music, Rowan University, The Painted Bride, Merce Cunningham, LA County Museum of Art, American Ballet Theater, and the Metropolitan Opera. Awards and grants include Grammy nomination as Orchestrator/Keyboardist, Meet The Composer, State Council on the Arts, and the Eubie Blake Scholarship. He holds a B.A. in Percussion, studied under Dennis Sandole (teacher of John Coltrane), and went on to pursue a Masters Degree in Composition from New York University. Mick has also been heard as pianist in performance and on recordings with numerous popular artists including Angela Bofill, Brandy, Jackson Browne, Marc Cohn, Natalie Cole, Ry Cooder, Roger Daltry, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Annie Haslam, Jewel, Arif Mardin, Randy Newman, David Sanborn, and Carly Simon (including "Live At Grand Central "). Broadway credits include "The Who's Tommy," "Jekyll and Hyde," and "The Full Monty," among others. He has also scored, orchestrated and/or mixed films airing on ABC, NBC, FOX, Disney, The History Channel, A&E, HBO's "Vagina Monologues" and Artisan's hit film "Standing In The Shadows Of Motown," and has made appearances on PBS, Lifetime, Jay Leno, Good Morning America, VH-1, MTV and David Letterman. [1]
Works for Percussion
Periphery - Marimba, Percussion Ensemble (10)
References