Mick Rossi, (born December 9, 1956) is a Grammy-nominated American pianist, drummer, percussionist, conductor and composer known for his diverse, progressive work in the New York Downtown scene. A longtime collaborator of

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

and

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

, Rossi's career has spanned many genres of contemporary American music.

Biography

Rossi was born in Trenton, New Jersey. His father played the accordion. Rossi started on piano at the age of four, and three years later he started playing oboe and drums. His teachers include Philadelphia guitarist

Dennis Sandole Dennis Sandole (29 September 1913 — 30 September 2000) born Dionigi Sandoli, was an American jazz guitarist, composer, and music educator from Philadelphia. Biography Sandole was John Coltrane's mentor from 1946 until the early 1950s, introduc ...

. Rossi earned his bachelor's degree in percussion from the College of New Jersey and pursued a master's degree in composition at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

In 2001, Rossi joined the Philip Glass Ensemble as percussionist and keyboardist, playing on nine Glass recordings, including ''

Music in Twelve Parts Music in Twelve Parts is a set of twelve pieces written between 1971 and 1974 by the composer Philip Glass. This work cycle was originally scored for ten instruments, played by five musicians: three electric organs, two flutes, four saxophones ( ...

'', ''Orion'', and Leonard Cohen's ''

Book of Longing ''Book of Longing'' was the first new poetry book by Leonard Cohen since 1984's '' Book of Mercy''. First published in 2006 by McClelland and Stewart, ''Book of Longing'' contains 167 previously unpublished poems and drawings, mostly written ...

''. In 2012, he was assistant conductor for the production of "

Einstein on the Beach ''Einstein on the Beach'' is an opera in four acts composed by Philip Glass with libretto in collaboration with Robert Wilson (director), Robert Wilson, who also designed and directed early productions. The opera eschews traditional narrative in ...

". As a member of the ensemble, Rossi performed around the world at venues such as

The Acropolis The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...

and

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. He toured with the Philip Glass Chamber Trio with Wendy Sutter and conducted Glass at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. In 2010, Rossi began recording and touring with

, which included the tour with

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

in 2014, Simon's 25th anniversary tour for the album ''Graceland'', and his tour for the album ''So Beautiful or So What''. ''Keyboard'' magazines said, "it was like nothing you've ever heard at a rock concert: Mick was improvising a cadenza that was an explosion of what sounded like Philip Glass meets Shostakovich...and it grooved." Rossi was conductor and co-orchestrator for the albums ''My December'' (2007) by

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...

and ''Dark Hope'' (2010) by

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...

. He was music director for the

MATA Festival The MATA Festival is a New York City, New York–based annual contemporary classical music festival devoted to championing the works of young composers. It was founded in 1996 by Philip Glass, Lisa Bielawa and Eleonor Sandresky and is currently u ...

in 2005 and for ''The Bacchae of Euripides'' in Shakespeare in the Park with

JoAnne Akalaitis JoAnne Akalaitis (born June 29, 1937, in Cicero, Illinois) is an avant-garde American theatre director and writer. She has won five Obie Awards for direction (and sustained achievement) and was a co-founder of the New York theater company Mabou ...

and Philip Glass. Broadway credits as pianist and conductor include ''Tommy'', ''Jeckyll and Hyde'', and ''The Full Monty''. Rossi's work has been presented at Merkin Hall, The Stone, Barbes, Routlette,

Knitting Factory The Knitting Factory is a nightclub in New York City that features eclectic music and entertainment and is co-owned and co-operated by Knitting Factory Entertainment. After opening in 1987, various other locations were opened in the United Stat ...

, MOMA, WNYC's ''New Sound''s with John Schaefer, NPR's ''All Things Considered'', WKCR's Musicians Show, and Tribecca New Music Festival. Rossi has also worked with

Alex Acuña Alejandro Neciosup Acuña (born December 12, 1944), known professionally as Alex Acuña, is a Peruvian–American jazz drummer and percussionist. He has also worked as an educator at University of California, Los Angeles, and Berklee College of ...

, Steven Bernstein,

Theo Bleckmann Theodor Raoul Bleckmann (born 28 May 1966) is a German singer and composer. Biography Bleckmann was born in Dortmund, West Germany. He planned to be an ice skater before becoming a vocalist. In 1989 he moved to New York City and recorded his ...

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (May 2, 1954 – June 13, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter and composer of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, she began her professional career in the mid-1970s and is most known for singles such as " T ...

Jimmy Cliff James Chambers, Jamaican Order of Merit, OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hol ...

Dave Douglas David or Dave Douglas may refer to: Entertainment * David Douglas (director) (born 1953), Canadian cinematographer, director and writer * Dave Douglas (trumpeter) (born 1963), American jazz trumpeter * Dave Douglas (drummer) (born 1979), American ...

Mark Dresser Mark Dresser (born September 26, 1952) is an American double bass player and composer. Career Dresser was born in Los Angeles, California, United States. In the 1970s, he was a member of Black Music Infinity led by Stanley Crouch and performed w ...

Kermit Driscoll James "Kermit" DriscollSmith, Steve"Driscoll, Kermit".''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 December 2022. (born March 4, 1956) is an American jazz bassist. He is known for his long association with guitarist Bill Frisell i ...

, Billy Drewes,

Peter Erskine Peter Clark Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the d ...

Erik Friedlander Erik Friedlander is an American cellist and composer based in New York City. A veteran of New York City's experimental downtown scene, Friedlander has worked in many contexts, but is perhaps best known for his frequent collaborations with sax ...

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuses ...

Eddie Gómez Edgar Gómez (born October 4, 1944) is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist, known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio from 1966 to 1977. Biography Gómez moved with his family from Puerto Rico at a young age to New York, where he was raised. ...

, Mark Graham,

Hall & Oates Daryl Hall & John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1970. Daryl Hall was generally the lead vocalist, while John Oates primarily supplied electric guitar and ba ...

Gerry Hemingway Gerry Hemingway (born March 23, 1955) is an American drummer and composer. Hemingway was a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 to 1994. He has also performed with Ernst Reijseger, Anthony Davis, Earl Howard, Leo Smith, George E. ...

, Russ Johnson,

Carla Kihlstedt Carla Kihlstedt (born 1971) is an American composer, violinist, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and currently working from a home studio on Cape Cod. She is a founding member of Tin Hat Trio (1997, ...

Andy Laster Andrew Jay Laster (born May 25, 1961 in Bethpage, New York) is an American jazz saxophonist. Laster studied early in his career with Joe Dixon and Dave Burns, both in the 1970s; he lived in Seattle in the early 1980s, where he attended Cornish ...

, Mahavishnu Project,

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. He has been cited as one of the greatest guitarists in jazz. Early life Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philad ...

Aaron Neville Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...

, Jack QT, Michael Sarin,

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

Wadada Leo Smith Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the field of creative music. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for ''Ten Freedom Summers'', released on ...

, Andrew Sterman, Foday Suso, Steve Ulrich,

Johnnie Valentino Johnnie Valentino (born September 2, 1957) is an American composer /guitarist and sound designer originally from Philadelphia who now lives in Los Angeles. Biography Valentino spent his youth in a Philadelphia neighborhood that was filled with ...

, and

Cuong Vu Cuong Vu (Cường Vũ) (born 19 September 1969) is a Vietnamese-American jazz trumpeter. In addition to his own work as a bandleader, Vu was a member of the Pat Metheny Group. He is the first American person of Vietnamese descent to win a Grammy ...

Film and television

Rossi's scores for film and television include ''Bored to Death'' (HBO), ''Delmar'' (Matt Dine), ''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), and the prize-winning ''Zipper'' (Amy Nicholson).

Recordings

* ''Songs from the Broken Land'' (Orange Mountain Music) * ''One Block from Planet Earth'' (OmniTone) * ''They Have a Word for Everything'' (Knitting Factory) * ''Inside the Sphere'' (Cadence Jazz) * ''New Math'' w/Russ Johnson (ToneScience) * ''Nosferatu'' w/The Rowen University Percussion Ensemble and Dean Witten, Conductor (Dreambox Media) * ''Micromusic'' w/John O'Gallagher (Broken Land Records) * ''Asilo'' w/Johnnie Valentino (Broken Land Records) * ''Music for Sound Healing'' w/Dr. Mitch Gaynor (Relaxation/Ellipsis Arts) * ''Sapphire Skies'' w/Dr. Jeffrey Thompson (Relaxation/Ellipsis Arts) * ''Dancing Clouds'' w/Dr. Jeffrey Thompson (Relaxation/Ellipsis Arts) * ''Live in Tokyo '' w/L.A.M.F (Secret Records) * '' Sessions with Mick'' w/

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a Leading actor, leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including Comedy film, comedies, dramas, action fi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Mick 1956 births Living people American male composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians