About Me
Born in 1963, in Ithaca, New York, Michael has been living and working in Europe, since graduating from Berklee School of Music, where he studied with George Garzone, Bill Peirce and Gary Burton, among others, After an Italian and Swiss tour in 1987 with keyboardist DELMAR BROWN, he subsequently settled in Italy, where he has been highly successful as both a live and studio musician and composer.During his tenure on the Southern European music scene, Michael has played at several major jazz festivals and has performed and/or recorded with many of Europe's most important jazz artists, including ECM recording artists ENRICO RAVA and FRANCO D'ANDREA, STEFANO BOLLANI, and Swiss trumpeter FRANCO AMBROSETTI, to name just a few. He has also played with more than a few well-known American musicians, such as JIM HALL, CARL ANDERSON, TOMMY CAMBPELL, PETER ERSKINE, MIKE STERN and KENNY WHEELER, both of whom personally invited Michael to sit in on their own concerts after having heard him play on earlier occasions. As a studio musician, Michael has recorded solos on approximately almost 100 cd’s of every conceivable genre and for a vast array of Italy’s most widely known singers, including MINA, CELENTANO and RENATO ZERO, and shares album credits with such musicians as TOM BRECHTLEIN, STEVE FERRONE, OSCAR CARTAYA and BO DIDDLEY. In addition, his saxophone solos were featured on the soundtrack for the ISO dance group’s 1991 performances in Tokyo and at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Michael has released five cd's as a soloist, the latest for Italian label "Dodicilune". His compositions have been featured numerous times on Italian National and International Radio stations RAI INTERNATIONAL and RADIO 3, as well as on Swiss and Serbian national Radio. CADENCE MAGAZINE said of his fourth cd, THE SURGE AND THE FLOW: "Each piece grows from a haunting melody. Fresh and alive, Rosen’s ballad album flows gently from the heart in a winning performance", whilst Thom Jurek on ALL MUSIC GUIDE called Michael's first cd, ELUSIVE CREATURES "a laudatory feat", and added: "Rosen is a composer and musician of vast ability. Rosen plays with great understatement and grace, allowing the tune to do its own work in the hearts of the musicians. This is a very auspicious debut, by a quiet yet terribly gifted young player. Let’s hope somebody else takes note soon." At a recent date at the BLUE NOTE in Milan, Mike Stern said: "Have you heard Michael Rosen? He plays his ass off!." Thanks, Mike!
