Mick Rossi

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 and Paul Simon, Rossi’s career has spanned many genres of contemporary American music.

Biography

Mick Rossi was born in Trenton, New Jersey. His father was an accordionist who started Mick out on piano when he was four years old. At age 7, Mick began playing drums and oboe.

Later teachers include Philadelphia guru Dennis Sandole.

Mick earned his B.A. in percussion from the College of New Jersey and went on to pursue a master's degree in composition at New York University.

Career

In 2001, Rossi joined The Philip Glass Ensemble as percussionist and keyboardist, playing on nine Glass recordings including Music in 12 Parts, Orion, and Leonard Cohen’s Book Of Longing and acted as assistant conductor of the 2012 production of "Einstein On The Beach". As a member of the ensemble, Mick has performed globally in venues such as The Acropolis, Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center, among numerous others. In addition, Rossi toured extensively in The Philip Glass Chamber Trio with Wendy Sutter and conducted Glass at The Sydney Opera House.

Rossi began recording and touring with Paul Simon in 2010, including 2014's Simon/Sting tour as well as Simon’s 25th anniversary Graceland and So Beautiful Or So What tours during which Keyboard Magazine stated "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." Mick acted as conductor and co-orchestrator on the 2007 Kelly Clarkson release, My December and 2010’s Dark Hope, an album of indie rock titles sung by operatic soprano Renée Fleming. Rossi acted as Music Director of the MATA Festival in 2005, as well as for The Bacchae of Euripides in Shakespeare In the Park with Joanne Akalaitis and Philip Glass. Broadway credits as pianist and conductor include Tommy, Jeckyll and Hyde, The Full Monty among others.

Rossi’s work has been presented at Merkin Hall, The Stone, Barbes, Routlette, The Knitting Factory, MOMA, WNYC’s New Sounds with John Schaefer, NPR’s All Things Considered, WKCR’s Musicians Show and Tribecca New Music Festival.

Other collaborators of Rossi include Alex Acuña, Steven Bernstein, Theo Bleckman, Angela Bofill, Jimmy Cliff, Dave Douglas, Mark Dresser, Kermit Driscoll, Billy Drewes, Peter Erskine, Eric Friedlander, Vinny Golia, Eddie Gomez, Hall and Oates, Gerry Hemingway, Russ Johnson, Carla Kihlstedt, Andy Laster, The Mahavishnu Project, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Martino, Aaron Neville, Randy Newman, JACK QT, Michael Sarin, Carly Simon, Wadada Leo Smith, Andrew Sterman, Sting, Foday Suso, Steve Ulrich, Johnnie Valentino and Cuong Vu.

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 Ens. 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 Co/Ellipsis Arts
• Sapphire Skies w/Dr. Jeffrey Thompson — Relaxation Co/Ellipsis Arts
• Dancing Clouds w/Dr. Jeffrey Thompson — Relaxation Co/Ellipsis Arts