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ianist, composer, percussionist, and OmniTone Recording Artist Mick Rossi-a member of the Philip Glass ensemble as both keyboardist and percussionist-is known for his diverse work in the NY Downtown scene and beyond. He has performed and recorded with artists Alex Acuña, Steven Bernstein, Theo Bleckman, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser, Billy Drewes, Kermit Driscoll, Peter Erskine, Mark Ferber, Eric Friedlander, Vinny Golia, Eddie Gomez, Gerry Hemingway, Ron Horton, Carla Kihlstedt, Elissa Lala, Andy Laster, Michael Sarin, Wadada Leo Smith, Andrew Sterman, Foday Suso, Johnny Valentino and Cuong Vu, to name a few.
Rossi is a regular at the Knitting Factory as both leader and sideman on several different ensembles, including Biohazard, the Anti-Matter Band, and the Mahavishnu Project. Rossi's work also has been heard throughout the United States and Europe including performances at the Stone, the Knitting Factory, Tonic, Roulette, Joe's Pub, Barbes, Cornelia St. Cafe, Fringe, Singapore, MATA, Ravenna, Lincoln Center, Les Nuits de Fourviere, the Montreux jazz festival, WNYC's "New Sounds" and NPR's "All Things Considered," as well as in Russia and the Far East. He has served as guest curator and music director for the MATA (Music At The Anthology) Festival in NY.
As a leader, recent recordings include the critically acclaimed "They Have A Word For Everything" (with Dave Douglas - Knitting Factory), "Inside The Sphere" (with Kermit Driscoll and Charles Descarfino - Cadence), "Nosferatu," his live score for the silent horror film for percussion ensemble, twelve double basses, clarinet (Andy Laster) and piano (recently featured on WNYC's New Sounds with John Schaefer - Dreambox Media), John Valentino's "Searching Souls" with Vinny Golia and Wadada Leo Smith (as drummer and pianist), "Eight Shorts In Search of David Lynch" (with Freidlander, Sarin and Valentino - ToneScience) and "New Math" with trumpeter Russ Johnson (ToneScience). Available now on OmniTone Records is "One Block From Planet Earth" (his second quintet recording - live from the Knit Main Space) and in early 2007, "Songs From The Broken Land" (for solo piano).
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. Notable venues include the Knitting Factory Composers Series, Jazz At Lincoln Center, New Wave Festival, BAM, VIA, The Public Theater, Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, The Acropolis, WKCR's Musician's Show, Avian Orchestra, The Philadelphia Academy of Music, The American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, Relache, The Eastman School of Music, Rowan University, The Painted Bride, Merce Cunningham, LA County Museum of Art, American Ballet Theater, The Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera. Awards and grants include Grammy nomination as Orchestrator/Keyboardist, Meet The Composer, State Council on the Arts, and the Eubie Blake Scholarship. He is currently producing his second of three World Music CDs for the Rleaxation Co/Ellipsis Arts. He holds a B.A. in Percussion/Piano, studied under Dennis Sandole (teacher of John Coltrane), and went on to pursue a Masters Degree in Composition from New York University.
Mick
has also been heard as pianist in performance and on recordings with numerous
popular artists including Angela Bofill, Kelly Clarkson, Marc Cohn, Roger
Daltry, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Annie Haslam, Jewel, Arif Mardin, Randy
Newman, David Sanborn, and Carly Simon (including "Live At Grand Central").
Broadway credits include "The Who's Tommy," "Jekyll and Hyde,"
and "The Full Monty," among others. He has also scored, orchestrated
and/or mixed films airing on ABC, NBC, FOX, Disney, The History Channel, Modern
Marvels, A&E, HBO's "Vagina Monologues" and Artisan's hit film
"Standing In The Shadows Of Motown," and has made appearances on
PBS, Lifetime, Jay Leno, Good Morning America, VH-1, MTV and David Letterman.
