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Born in 1960 in Paris, now an American citizen,
self-taught pianist and composer Jean-Michel Pilc
has performed with numerous jazz giants: Roy Haynes,
Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Jean Toussaint, Rick
Margitza, Martial Solal, Michel Portal, Daniel
Humair, Marcus Miller, Kenny Garrett, Lenny White,
Chris Potter, John Abercrombie, Mingus Dynasty & Big
Band, Lew Soloff, Richard Bona etc. He has also
worked with Harry Belafonte, as his musical director
and pianist, and has performed a duet with the
legendary opera singer Jessye Norman.
Jean-Michel moved to New York City in 1995. There,
he formed a trio with François Moutin (bass) and
Ari Hoenig (drums). They recorded a one-week
engagement at the legendary jazz club Sweet Basil
and, in 2000, released two CDs: Together - Live at
Sweet Basil, NYC - Vol. 1 & 2 (A-Records). Pilc then
signed a record deal with Dreyfus Jazz. His first
album for Dreyfus, Welcome Home (featuring the same
trio), was released in 2002. Jean-Michel's next
recording, Cardinal Points, was released the
following year. It featured his extended work Trio
Sonata, created with generous support from Chamber
Music America New Works: Creation and Presentation
Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable
Foundation.
In 2004, Jean-Michel released his
first solo album, Follow Me (Dreyfus). Then he
returned to trio format to record Live at Iridium,
NYC, in 2004, New Dreams in 2006, and True Story in
2009 (featuring Billy Hart). This was also a period
of intensive touring all over the world.
In
2009, Jean-Michel received his second New Works
Grant from Chamber Music America, for the writing
and performance of Modern Lights, a composition
reflecting Charlie Chaplin’s work, and the
inspiration Jean-Michel has gained from his movies.
The project was premiered at the Caramoor Jazz
Festival in August 2009.
Jean-Michel’s next
two albums were both released in 2011 on the Motema
label to great critical acclaim: Essential, a live
solo piano recording, and Threedom, featuring his
legendary trio with François Moutin & Ari Hoenig,
which had re-formed in 2010 under the collective
name Pilc Moutin Hoenig. There is also a documentary
out by John McCormick titled Jean-Michel Pilc – A
Portrait (2009, Living Jazz Archive).
In
2013, Jean-Michel was granted a Fellowship from the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, in the
Music Composition category. The project was an
octet, Big One, featuring all new original music.
In 2015, Jean-Michel released What Is This Thing
Called? his third solo album and first release for
Sunnyside. Jean-Michel is also a virtuoso whistler,
as documented on a solo piano & whistle track in the
CD Christmas from the Blue Note (2010, Half Note).
Always a busy performer, Jean-Michel has been
very active in 2013-2016 as a leader, performing
mainly solo and trio, and touring many places
including Japan, Taiwan, Europe, USA and Canada. He
has also been in high demand as a co-leader and
sideman, participating in numerous projects over the
world and recording more than 10 CDs. Among these
projects and recordings: duos with Kenny Werner, Sam
Newsome, Sylvain Luc and the legendary Martial
Solal, trio with Thomas Bramerie & André Ceccarelli
Twenty, guitarist Teriver Cheung Hong Kong Episodes,
Greek bass player Petros Klampanis Contextual, NYC
drummer Tony Moreno Short Stories, Moutin Reunion
Quintet Deep, Brazilian guitarist Fabio Gouvea,
Dutch bassist Jasper Somsen, Danish bassist Mads
Vinding, and many others.
Jean-Michel has
also built a strong international reputation as a
very unique educator. Between 2006 and 2015, he was
a NYU Steinhardt faculty member, giving private
lessons (piano and other instruments), ensemble
classes and improvisation workshops. He was
Co-Director of NYU Summer Jazz Improv Workshop in
2010. Jean-Michel also taught for the New School in
NYC, as well as privately.
At the same time,
he released a book, It's About Music - The Art and
Heart of Improvisation (Glen Lyon) and an
educational video for all instruments, True Jazz
Improvisation (JazzHeaven), followed by another
video for JazzHeaven, Transcending the Instrument,
about piano playing and practicing. All have been
praised by his colleagues, and highly influential in
the field of jazz education.
Since September
2015, Jean-Michel is an Associate Professor at The
Schulich School of Music of McGill University in
Montreal. There, he is teaching jazz, piano, and
improvisation (all instruments), and also a Seminar
on improvisation in all styles to 30 McGill jazz and
classical students. He has acted as Jazz Area Chair
between 2016 and 2018. Jean-Michel also keeps
releasing pedagogical material, including 2 video
masterclasses on Improvisational Fluency for
MyMusicMasterclass.com, as well as a masterclass in
French, Anatomie d'un standard, for iMusic School.
He is also publishing Improvisation Tutorials on
Patreon.
Jean-Michel is now working on many
Montreal-based projects, such as the "Waves" Trio
with Cole Birney-Stewart and Michel Lambert, a new
solo project called "De Visu," and the
"Improvisation Workshop Project," funded by the
Fonds de Recherche du Québec -Société et Culture
(FRQSC). He has recently released his fourth solo
album, "Parallel" (Challenge Records) and gives solo
concerts internationally. He has also been a special
guest of the Montreal-based "Orchestre National de
Jazz" and a sideman of various Montreal musicians.
He also continues to perform with NYC-based groups
such as Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig and his own US Trio with
Sam Minaie and Jerad Lippi.
www.jeanmichelpilc.com
www.facebook.com/jeanmichelpilc
www.improvworkshopproject.com
www.patreon.com/jmpilc
www.youtube.com/user/jmpilc12428
Quotes
"His densely harmonic
reinventions of standards you thought you knew
clearly shows a musical genius at work."- Eric
Brace, The Washington Post
"There may be no more diverse, unpredictable jazz
piano player, song to song, than Jean-Michel Pilc."
- Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes
"A dazzlingly inventive pianist." - Nate Chinen,
The New York Times
"Jean-Michel Pilc belongs right in the front row." -
John Fordham, Guardian Unlimited
(UK, **** review)
“One of the astounding jazz
piano trios of the past decade.” - Don Williamson,
Jazz Review
"Mr Pilc seems
to have dropped from the sky fully formed, with
technique and his ideas in place. He is a physical
and densely harmonic player, a splashy stunner who
also has a Rubik's-cube mind for chord
substitutions." - Ben Ratliff, New York
Times
"...visual art references come
to mind: Cubist renderings of melody in which the
original is reshaped into a completely different
visual perspective; the shimmering opaqueness of
Impressionism in some of Pilc's lush harmonies..." -
Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times
"Follow Me" stands a major summation of Pilc's
keyboard art, which has no counterparts. Pilc ranks
among today's titans of the instrument... there's
more to his art than the speed, precision and power
of his 10 phenomenal fingers." Howard Reich,
Chicago Tribune (2004 10 best jazz CDs)
"I am absolutely stunned by the work of pianist
Jean-Michel Pilc... The rhythm section sizzles under
(his) leadership." Bob Dorough,
vocalist.
"...make no mistake about it, to
his credit, Mr. Pilc is very unique... I would say
that this trio starts at Mars, and then goes from
there. Don't expect anything resembling conventional
interpretations. This is fascinating and rewarding
music..." - Rick Helzer, Jazz
Improv
"The big discovery in the acoustic
field was Jean-Michel Pilc. His sound is majestic,
his statements urging. Supported by an equally
strong rhythm section it didn't take him much effort
to get Carel-Willinck Hall steaming..." -
NRC Handelsblad, reporting on a North Sea
Jazz Festival appearance.
"While never dry
or abstract, Pilc is a model for playing a little to
say a lot." - Mark Keresman,
Jazziz
"should be studied in every music
school in the galaxy..." Harvey Siders,
Jazz Times +Top 50 Picks for Critics Picks 2003
"...ridiculously well-balanced, and trading in
the kind of grace that still has the power to shake
a room. Keith Jarrett found something similar...
Pilc's nudging it a bit further down the line." -
Down Beat, four Star Hot Box review
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