Mick Rossi biography
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Mick Rossi in Greece Brooklyn pianist, composer, percussionist, conductor, leader and arranger Mick Rossi — currently on tour with Philip Glass — is known for his diverse work in the New York Downtown scene and beyond.  He has performed and recorded with artists Alex Acuña, Steven Bernstein, Mark Dresser, Billy Drewes, Dave Douglas, Mark Egan, Peter Erskine, Eric Friedlander, Philip Glass, Eddie Gomez, Gerry Hemingway, Ron Horton, Andy Laster, Pat Martino, Michael Pedicin, Jr., Michael Sarin and Cuong Vu, to name a few.

Rossi is a regular as leader and sideman on several different ensembles, including, among others, his "They Have A Word" Quintet, the Anti-Matter Band (Featuring Drewes, Horton, Sarin and Davilla), and the Kermit Driscoll Quartet.

Rossi's work also has been heard throughout the United States and Europe including performances at the Texaco/NY, Knitting Factory, Fringe, Singapore, and Montreux jazz festivals, WNYC's New Sounds, NPR's All Things Considered, as well as in Russia and the Far East.  As a leader, his most recent album as a leader is One Block from Planet Earth, an extension of the quintet music he wrote for the critically acclaimed They Have a Word for Everything (featuring Dave Douglas), following the heels of Inside The Sphere (with Driscoll and Charles Descarfino).  Other recordings include his score for the silent horror film Nosferatu (DreamboxMedia Records) for percussion ensemble, 12 double basses, clarinet (Andy Laster) and piano, Abstractus with Gerry Hemingway and Todd Reynolds, Searching Souls (Nine Winds Records) and Eight Shorts in Search of David Lynch (ToneScience) with Johnnie Valentino, Vinny Golia, Leo Smith, Michael Sarin, and Eric Friedlander, MicroMusic with John O'Gallagher, and New Math (ToneScience) with trumpeter Russ Johnson

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, The Philadelphia Academy of Music, The American Dance Festival, Jacob's Pillow, Relache, The Eastman School of Music, Rowan University, The Painted Bride, The Gowanus Arts Center, Merce Cunningham 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.

His regularly performed concerto for marimba and percussion ensemble Periphery has recently been published by C. Alan.  He holds a B.A. in Percussion, 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 in performance and on recordings with numerous popular artists including Angela Bofill, Brandy, Jackson Browne, Marc Cohn, Natalie Cole, Ray Charles, Ry Cooder, Roger Daltry, Linda Eder, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Annie Haslam, Jewel, Lainie Kazan, Robert Klein, Arif Mardin, Randy Newman, David Sanborn, Tony Visconti, and Carly Simon (including Live at Grand Central).  Broadway credits as pianist and/or conductor include The Who's Tommy, Jekyll and Hyde, 42nd Street, and The Full Monty among others.  He has also scored, orchestrated and/or mixed films airing on ABC, NBC, FOX, and A&E.  Recent film projects include HBO's Vagina Monologues and  the hit movei Standing in the Shadows of Motown, and has made appearances on PBS, Lifetime, Jay Leno, Good Morning America, VH-1, MTV and David Letterman.



 
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