Mick Rossi Trio
w/Kermit Driscoll (bs) and Michael Sarin (drs)

Short Bio

Knitting Factory recording artist Mick Rossi has recorded and performed with such music greats as Dave Douglas, Peter Erskine, Steven Bernstein, Billy Drewes, Pat Martino, Michael Sarin, Eddie Gomez and Cuong Vu, as well as pop stars Carly Simon and Hall & Oates. New music, jazz and free improvisation are blended seamlessly in the pianist's eclectic new recording for quintet "They Have A Word For Everything", featuring Downtown veterans Dave Douglas (Myra Melford), Andy Laster (New and Used), Kermit Driscoll (Bill Frisell) and Charles Descarfino (Ned Rothenberg).

"Pianist Rossi writes and plays with an original voice. Magnificent!" - The Jazz Report

Long Bio

New York pianist, composer, percussionist, conductor and arranger Mick Rossi, well known for his diversity and scope, divides his time between the creative and the commercial music scene. He has performed and recorded with downtown/jazz artists Alex Acuña, Gregg Bendian, Steven Bernstein, Keith Carlock, Billy Drewes, Dave Douglas, Kermit Driscoll, Mark Egan, Peter Erskine, Vinny Golia, Eddie Gomez, Ron Horton, Andy Laster, Pat Martino, Michael Pedicin, Jr., Michael Sarin, Wadada Leo Smith, and Cuong Vu. Rossi is a regular at the Knitting Factory leading several different ensembles, including, among others, the Mahavishnu Project w/Miki Navazio, Todd Reynolds, Kermit and Bendian. Rossi's work also has been heard throughout the United States and Europe including performances at the Texaco/NY, Knitting Factory, Fringe and Montreux jazz festivals, WNYC's "New Sounds," NPR's "All Things Considered" as well as in Russia and the Far East.

As a leader, his new critically acclaimed quintet recording "They Have A Word For Everything" (featuring Dave Douglas) was just released on the Knitting Factory Label, on the heels of "Inside The Sphere" (with Kermit Driscoll and Charles Descarfino) on Cadence Jazz Records. Mick has also been heard in performance and on recordings with numerous popular artists including Angela Bofill, Brandy, Jackson Browne, Marc Cohn, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, Ry Cooder, Roger Daltry, Linda Eder, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Annie Haslam, Jewel, Lainie Kazan, Randy Newman, David Sanborn, and Carly Simon (including "Live At Grand Central"). Broadway credits as keyboardist and/or conductor include: Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, The Who's Tommy, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, The King and I, and the current hit Jekyll and Hyde (Assistant Conductor), among others.

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 venues, some of which include the Knitting Factory Composers Series, The Philadelphia Academy of Music, The American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, Relache, The Eastman School of Music, The Painted Bride, The Gowanus Arts Center and Merce Cunningham. Awards and grants include Grammy nomination as Orchestrator/Percussionist/Keyboardist, Meet The Composer, NJ State Council on the Arts, and the Eubie Blake Scholarship. His much performed concerto for Marimba and Percussion Ensemble "Periphery" has recently been published by C. Allen, and he is currently working on a commission to score the silent horror film "Nosferatu" for percussion ensemble.

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. In addition, he has scored and/or orchestrated films airing on ABC, NBC, FOX and A&E and has made appearances on PBS, Lifetime, Jay Leno, Good Morning America, VH-1, MTV and David Letterman.

http://www.mickrossi.com