Mick Rossi

Pianist, drummer/percussionist, and composer Mick Rossi is known for his diverse, progressive work in the NY Downtown scene and has been described as “one of the most courageous and gifted charismatic musicians in New York and beyond" (All About Jazz Italy). His new solo recordings include “They Have A Word For Everything“ (Knitting Factory), “Nosferatu” (Dreambox), “Inside The Sphere“ (Cadence), “New Math” (ToneScience), the up-coming “Songs From The Broken Land” (Orange Mountain Music), and his ninth recording “One Block From Planet Earth” (OmniTone), about which Down Beat gives “Four Stars” and All About Jazz describes as “Life relishing and unpretentiously profound.” “One Block” was spotlighted on several top-ten new release lists, including All About Jazz and Downtown Music Gallery. He was also nominated for a GRAMMY in 1998. In addition, Rossi will conduct the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare Festival production of “The Bacchae” (directed by JoAnne Akalaitis, with music by Philip Glass) in Central Park. He has served as music director and curator of the MATA Festival in NY, has just completed his third string quartet, and recently conducted Philip Glass’s “Book Of Longing” in Milan, Melbourne, and the Sydney Opera House. Other recent Glass projects include “Orion,” “Music in 12-Parts,” and “Einstein On The Beach” at Carnegie Hall. He has appeared on seven Glass recordings.A member of the Philip Glass ensemble as both pianist and percussionist, he has performed and recorded all over the world with Alex Acuña, Steven Bernstein, Theo Bleckman, Angela Bofill, Kelly Clarkson, Leonard Cohen, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser, Kermit Driscoll, Billy Drewes, Peter Erskine, Eric Friedlander, Vinny Golia, Eddie Gomez, Hall and Oates, Gerry Hemingway, Peter Herbert, Russ Johnson, Carla Kihlstedt, Andy Laster, The Mahavishnu Project, Pat Martino, Randy Newman, Michael Pedicin, Jr., Jenny Scheinman, Carly Simon, Wadada Leo Smith, Andrew Sterman, Foday Suso, Johnnie Valentino and Cuong Vu, among others. Performances include the Knitting Factory, Fringe, and Montreux jazz festivals, WNYC’s New Sounds, NPR’s All Things Considered, John Zorn’s The Stone, Tonic, Joe’s Pub, Carnegie Hall, Jazz At Lincoln Center, Iridium, Barbes, Roulette, Metropolitan Opera, Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Ballet Theater, Jay Leno and David Letterman. Recent films include “The Vagina Monologues” (HBO), “Standing In The Shadows Of Motown” (Artisan), and his scores for the award winning independent films “Born Again” (Markie Hancock), “The Other Side Of The River,” and “Journey” (both by Lin Chien Ping).