Michael Weiss - Homage (2023) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Michael Weiss has always had the ear of some of the most imposing soloists in jazz. The seasoned pianist has been a top-call sideman to a starry constellation of bandleaders during his career, from a 15-year tenure with tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin to extensive tours, club dates, or recordings with George Coleman, Charles McPherson, Lou Donaldson, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Lou Donaldson and many others.

Among the many qualities that these jazz legends have responded to in Weiss' conception is its aesthetic breadth and depth. His improvising and writing is rooted in bebop fundamentals but also expansive, reflecting contemporary approaches to melodic development, rhythmic and textural variety, and formal ingenuity. Above all, Weiss is a musician who communicates his own personal view of the world. His music pulsates with a strong emotional commitment and hard-won individuality. George Coleman, well-known as a saxophonist unwilling to suffer any musician who doesn’t meet the highest artistic standards, put it this way in 2022: “Michael is very inventive and creative, and he has been for a very long time. He’s harmonically adept and has a fantastic right hand. He’s gifted. He deserves more attention.”

With Weiss' sideman credentials well established, he has recently concentrated on honing his distinctive language with his own trio. In addition to club and festival work and touring, he has produced a growing series of recordings that document his sophisticated original compositions and inventive arrangements of off-the-beaten track repertoire and standards. Homage, which features Paul Sikivie on bass and Pete Van Nostrand on drums, finds the trusted piano veteran in exceptional form on his second outing for Cellar Live, following 2022’s well-received quartet album Persistence.

TRACKLIST

1. Michael Weiss - Un Petit Quelque Chose
2. Michael Weiss - Hale-Bopp
3. Michael Weiss - I'll Remember April
4. Michael Weiss - The Griffin
5. Michael Weiss - Homage
6. Michael Weiss - Suddenly
7. Michael Weiss - We Love Horace
8. Michael Weiss - Skylark
9. Michael Weiss - Lullaby of the Leaves
10. Michael Weiss - A World Away
11. Michael Weiss - An Oscar For Treadwell



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