“I want to continue to lose myself more and more in the bliss of music. Not only do I benefit from the intoxication, but the audience resonates with their own bliss. In this way, the music wakes us all to who we really are."—Kenny Werner

Kenny Werner, Photo by William Claxton

One of the idiom’s most lyrical interpreters and composers, pianist Kenny Werner will pair up with one of the most creative of European imports, French pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, for a rare duo appearance at Merkin Hall in Manhattan on December 12^th. Werner is well known as the leader of a sublime trio, frequent collaborator with harmonica legend Toots Thielmans, and veteran educator and author of the musician’s primer, Effortless Mastery. A self-taught Parisian, Pilc is fast becoming one of the most acclaimed keyboardists of his generation, and has already shared the stage with the likes of Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Kenny Garrett, John Abercrombie, and Harry Belafonte.

About Kenny Werner

A child prodigy, Kenny Werner was born in Brooklyn and joined a children’s song and dance group at age four. At age 11, he recorded a single with a fifteen-piece orchestra and played stride piano on television. Still in high school, he studied at the Manhattan School of Music, later becoming a classical piano major. His interest in improvisation led him to the jazz program at the Berklee School of Music; he began recording in the late 1970s, appearing on Charles Mingus’ “Something Like a Bird.” In the 1980s, Werner toured with Archie Shepp and the Mel Lewis Orchestra, worked in duo formats with Rufus Reid, Ray Drummond, and Jaki Byard, and performed solo concerns in Europe and New York. Three National Endowment of the Arts grants helped further his career as a composer and enabled him to present his compositions at Symphony Space in New York. He also wrote compositions for the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, which became the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. With Ratzo Harris and Tom Rainey, Werner spent 14 years experimenting with trio formats, and in the 1990s, this format became his main focus. Bob Blumenthal (Boston Globe) noted that Werner’s ensemble “has provided an ever-evolving definition of the spontaneity that remains at the heart of jazz... unsurpassed as a working trio.”

Over the years, Kenny Werner has performed and/or recorded with such luminaries as Bob Brookmeyer, Ron Carter, Joe Williams, Chico Freeman, Sonny Fortune, Peter Erskine, John Abercrombie, Bobby McFerrin, Lee Konitz, Billy Hart, Marian McPartland, Joe Henderson, Tom Harrell, Gunther Schuller, Ed Blackwell, Paul Motian, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Eddie Gomez, Dave Holland, Charlie Haden, Chris Potter, and Joe Lovano.

Kenny Werner is one of the most active educators in jazz today. He joined the faculty of the New School's jazz department in New York City in 1987, and gives clinics at many universities in the United States and abroad, as well as conducting private lessons. Now on the faculty of New York University, Werner has published many articles and books on music theory and performance. These days, in addition to teaching and duets with Toots Thielemans, he performs his own music, mostly with his current trio (Ari Hoenig on drums and Johannes Wiedenmueller on bass) or with jazz orchestra and other large ensembles.

About Jean Michel Pilc

Jean-Michel Pilc, Photo by Jimmy Katz

Now 45, Jean-Michel Pilc taught himself to play piano. Before moving to the U.S. ten years ago, he had toured throughout Europe, participating on numerous recordings and film scores. In New York, Pilc formed a trio with François Moutin (bass) and Kenny Werner’s drummer, Ari Hoenig. The trio became a popular fixture in Big Apple venues such as the Blue Note, Birdland, Knitting Factory, and Sweet Basil. In 2000. Pilc was awarded the Django Reinhardt Prize from the French Jazz Academy.

Also In 2000, Pilc’s trio released a pair of acclaimed recordings, Jean-Michel Pilc Trio - Together - Live at Sweet Basil, NYC - Vol. 1 & 2(A-Records) before Pilc signed on to Dreyfus Jazz; the trio then released Welcome Home in 2002 which was highly successful critically and commercially. Noted Neal Tesser, “Pilc's playing reveals a roaring fire that all but consumes the cosmopolitan sheen stereotypical of European music.... he creates an admirable trialogue with his band mates (bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Ari Hoenig) that represents another stage in the evolution of the interplay brought to piano jazz by Bill Evans." Welcome Home was followed in 2003 by Cardinal Points, which features Jean-Michel's extended work, "Trio Sonata,” created through a grant from Chamber Music America's New Works: Creation and Presentation Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. In 2004, Pilc release a solo recording Follow Me, and now, in 2005, has come full circle with a new live trio recording, Live at the Iridium, New York, introducing his new ensemble with Thomas Bramerie on bass and Mark Mondesir on drums. When not performing solo or with his trio, Pilc teaches master classes and clinics.

Notes John Fordham (The Guardian), “Pilc hurls the kitchen sink into everything he does - irrepressible quotations from all over the jazz tradition, drummer-like affection for the explosive accent followed by the double-taking silence, streams of fluid improvised melody over a fast groove one moment, bumpy disruptions of the pulse and skews to the harmony the next.”

Duo at Merkin Hall

December 12^th is a very special evening at Merkin Hall as these two giants of their generations meet as part of the No Minimum Duo Piano Series. Merkin Hall is located at 129 W. 67^th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam). Tickets $35; showtime at 8 pm. Contact the Merkin Hall box office at (212) 501-3330.

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