Name: Michael Wolff
Start: 2024-11-22T20:00:00-05:00
Location: Arts Garage

Come join critically acclaimed master jazz pianist Michael Wolff for an evening of music, improvisation and storytelling like never before. Accompanied by longtime collaborators Allan Mednard on drums and Ben Allison on bass, the trio will showcase music from Wolff’s most recent record “MEMOIR” (Sunnyside Records), also recorded by the same group. The evening’s material reflects on the life and near-death experiences chronicled by Wolff in his best selling memoir, “On That Note” as well as featuring other soulful originals and twists on familiar favorites.
PERFORMER BIO:
Michael Wolff is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed pianist, composer, bandleader, and now, author. In a long-running musical career he has been the musical director for the great Grammy-winning jazz singer, Nancy Wilson, and the award-winning The Arsenio Hall Show. He has also been a member of Impure Thoughts, Wolff & Clark Expedition, and a co-star with his sons on the series The Naked Brothers Band. He is a recipient of the BMI Music Award, the winner of the Gold Disc Award in Japan, and the recipient of the Hamptons International Film Festival’s award for best film score for the film, The Tic Code, starring Polly Draper, Carol Kane, Tony Shalhoub, Gregory Hines and Camryn Manheim. His life story is detailed in his memoir, On That Note, launching in 2022. Wolff made his recording debut with Cal Tjader in the mid 70’s and has since gone on to play and record with some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world including Grammy nominated Flora Purim and her husband Airto Moreira; jazz alto saxophonist, Cannonball Adderly; Sonny Rollins, the great jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians in the world; and The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra among many others.
He has performed with and conducted over 25 symphony orchestras worldwide in such esteemed venues as The Dallas Symphony, The Fort Worth Symphony, The Berlin Radio Orchestra, and The Atlanta Symphony. He has also performed as a soloist with The Memphis National Symphony and The Pittsburgh Symphony. He has also performed at Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Birdland, Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, Snug Harbor and Mezzrow, among hundreds of others in the United States and World-wide.
Wolff has released 21 recordings to critical and popular acclaim. His album, Jumpstart, with Christian McBride and Tony Williams, won the Gold Disk Award in Japan. Wolff is currently a member of Wolff & Clark Expedition, with drummer Mike Clark. Their first album, Wolff & Clark Expedition, was released in February, 2013 on Random Act Records, and quickly rose to the top of the Jazz Charts. Their second album, Wolff & Clark Expedition 2, rose to the top five in the jazz charts and remained there for over three months. He also performs as part of a trio featuring Ben Allison on bass and Alan Mednard on drums.
As a Yamaha/Bosendorfer artist, Wolff has been recording and performing in conjunction with jazz radio station WBGO at the Yamaha Piano Salon in New York City, where his trio recorded their first live recording. That album, Swirl, was released in January, 2019 on Sunnyside Records.
In addition to The Tic Code, Michael Wolff has composed the scores to many other film and television projects, such as Made Up, Dark Angel, Who’s the Man, and The Naked Brothers Band. Most recently Michael wrote the score for the new Polly Draper film, Stella’s Last Weekend.
BAND MEMBERS:
Michael Wolff – Piano
Ben Allison – Bass
Allan Mednard – Drums