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MICHELE ROSEWOMAN
Pianist/Composer/Educator
www.michelerosewoman.com
With the October 3, 2006 release of The In Side Out (Advance Dance Disques AD 0353) - Michele Rosewoman’s first new recording since 2000 and the fifth featuring her ensemble Quintessence - the acclaimed pianist/composer once again makes a powerful creative statement that showcases the breadth and depth of her musicality and affirms her position as one of the most original and innovative instrumentalists and composers on the global jazz scene. Ms. Rosewoman is heard here with a core ensemble featuring the powerful frontline of saxophonists Mark Shim and Miguel Zenon, augmented by Dave Fiuczynski on guitar, Josh Roseman on trombone, and Pedro Martinez on percussion. Self-produced, The In Side Out is undoubtedly Rosewoman’s most multi-faceted recording to date - from their conversational and energy-inspired ensemble sound to sophisticated funk and electric fusion, to spiritually based rhythmic and vocal traditions. As on her previous recordings for Blue Note, Soul Note, Enja, Evidence and Toshiba/EMI, Rosewoman expands the horizons of jazz while remaining firmly rooted in the music’s illustrious tradition.
Michele Rosewoman was born in Oakland, CA and started playing piano at age six, studying jazz traditions with the great pianist/organist Ed Kelly. In her late teens she began playing percussion and studying Cuban/Haitian folkloric idioms. By the time she moved to New York in 1978, she had already performed at major venues in the San Francisco Bay Area with her own ensembles and with Julian Priester, Julius Hemphill, Baikida Carroll and Oliver Lake and other fellow jazz innovators. In New York, Rosewoman formed new ensembles and continued to present her music, collaborating with Rufus Reid, Reggie Workman, Freddie Waits, James Spaulding, Billy Hart, Carlos Ward and others, as well as with Cuban master drummer/vocalist, Orlando ‘Puntilla’ Rios, and other musicians in the folkloric community.
In 1983 she received an NEA grant to form the pioneering 14-piece ensemble “New Yor-Uba, A Musical Celebration of Cuba in America†that debuted at The Public Theater that December and appeared at festivals throughout Europe in 1984. That year she made her recording debut as pianist and arranger for the Cuban songo group Los Kimy. Her experience as a percussionist continues to shape many aspects of her music. In the Latin music genre, Rosewoman has performed with Puntilla’s “Nueva Generacion,†Celia Cruz, Paquito D’Rivera, Daniel Ponce and Chocolate among others.
Rosewoman received the ASCAP/Meet the Composer Commission for Emerging Composers that year (awarded by Dizzy Gillespie, Marian McPartland and Lester Bowie) resulting in a new work performed by the 40-piece Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra and a quintet of improvisers, including Rufus Reid, Greg Osby and Howard Johnson.
Rosewoman’s recording debut as a leader, The Source (Soul Note/1984) was praised for its radiance and ingenuity. Quintessence (Enja/1987) was named by numerous critics and polls as one of the best jazz releases of the year and has been cited as one of the best jazz recordings of the 1980's. As Ms. Rosewoman established a reputation as one of the most ingenious and prolific bandleaders of her generation, Down Beat wrote: "…She communicates assurance and ardor whether on the cutting edge of jazz or within the mainstream. What musicianship and moving expression! Bring on the future."
In addition to five recordings with Quintessence, Ms. Rosewoman has two trio recordings: Occasion To Rise (Evidence/1993), which was voted one of the year’s best recordings by six critics’ polls, and Spirit (Blue Note/1996), which was recorded live at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
Since its debut in 1986 at the Cooper Union Great Hall in New York, Quintessence has been the main vehicle for Rosewoman's evolution as pianist, composer and bandleader. She assembled dynamic bands to interpret her writing, and became known for bringing together musicians who today are some of the most inventive voices in jazz, including saxophonists Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, Gary Thomas, David Sanchez, Steve Wilson, Antonio Hart, Miguel Zenon and Mark Shim; bassists Kenny Davis, Anthony Cox and Lonnie Plaxico; and drummers Terri Lyne Carrington, Gene Jackson and Tyshawn Sorey. Many have cited the experience of playing in Quintessence as notably influential in their development as musicians, composers and bandleaders.
Regarding Ms. Rosewoman’s previous Quintessence release, Guardians of the Light (Enja/2000), an NPR review noted: “ …[She] sounds more than ever the confident master of her committed course. An indomitable modern jazz pianist, her singular sound ideas expand readily to her dark, fiery ensembles. So it all comes together, big, tight and flexible, rangy, spontaneous, serious and mysterious. Rosewoman and her band are jazz believers, jazz devotees, keepers of the flame."
Rosewoman and Quintessence received a 2008 and 2003 Chamber Music America/Doris Duke Foundation New Works Creation and Presentation Commission. In 2006 they received one of the first Chamber Music America Encore Grants. .
Rosewoman has appeared at jazz festivals, concert halls and clubs throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe including the JVC, Ravinia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, North Sea, Paris, Warsaw and Berlin jazz festivals and Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Cooper Union Great Hall, the Public Theater, MOMA, NYU, Temple University, Stanford University, The Blue Note (New York & Tokyo), the Village Vanguard, The Apollo, Sweet Basil, Birdland, Jazz Standard, Yoshi's, New Morning (Paris) and the Jazz Café (London).
As an educator she conducts classes, workshops and clinics at colleges and universities around the US while teaching piano and composition privately. Ms. Rosewoman has also held past and current teaching positions at NYU and the New School for Social Research and in February 2006 a composition department residency at Berklee College of Music.
Updated September 2008
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Performances
March 14 2009 New Yor-Uba performance at Hostos College, Bronx NY
March 1 2009 --Trio performance and piano workshop at the Jazz School in Berkeley
Jan 10 2009 --Caribbean Cultural Center Puntilla tribute w/ New Yor-Uba members
Dec, 13 2008---Schomburg Center with New Yor-Uba members, Puntilla tribute
Aug 4-22 2008=- Workshop Montclair State Univ N.J. / Jazz Connections
April 2008 -- Knoxville Jazz Festival, quintet w/ Ralph Peterson
April 2008 -- Workshop / University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Aug 2007 --- Quintessence /Chicago Jazz Festival
May 2007 --- Quintesence /American Museum of Natural History,NYC
April 2007 -- Quintesence /Augusta University, GA
March 2007-- Trio w/Quintessence members /Rubin Museum, NYC
March 2007 --New Yor-Uba/ University of Massachussetts, Amherst MA
