Michele Rosewoman
Biography

Much like the most celebrated icons s of jazz past, pianist/composer Michele Rosewoman is fiercely determined to use her knowledge and respect of the genre's tradition to move beyond it and carry it into a new generation. As evidenced by glowing reviews of her live and recorded performances, this determination has served her well--giving birth to a strikingly original voice with an all-embracing style.

Her debut recording as a leader, THE SOURCE (Soul Note/1984) was praised for its radiance and ingenuity. And in a review of the album published by Down Beat magazine, Rosewoman's direction was likened to that of master innovator Charles Mingus. With her maiden voyage on record, she had not only distinguished herself as a talented player but a composer of unique vision. That same year Dizzy Gillespie, Marian McPartland and Lester Bowie awarded her the ASCAP/Meet the Composer Commission for Emerging Composers resulting in the opportunity to write a new work for performance by the 40-piece Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra with a quintet of improvisers including Rufus Thomas, Howard Johnson and Greg Osby.

Beginning with her next recording, QUINTESSENCE (Enja/1987), Rosewoman further revealed her distinct ensemble concept and compositional approach by assembling dynamic bands to interpret her writing. Since it's debut, Quintessence has served as an ongoing vehicle for Rosewoman's compositions and band leadership. And throughout it's history, she brought together musicians who would subsequently become some of this generation's most inventive voices, including saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby.

Besides three albums with Quintessence, Rosewoman has made two trio recordings. OCCASION TO RISE (Evidence/1993), her first in the trio format was voted one of the year's best recordings in six critics' polls, while SPIRIT (Blue Note/1996) was her first live recorded performance (from the Montreal Jazz Festival).

In 1983 Rosewoman received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant for the formation of NEW YOR-UBA, a 14-piece ensemble conceived to perform her original compositions and arrangements which integrate Afro-Cuban folkloric music and contemporary cutting-edge jazz. With the support of the 1983 NEA grant, New Yor-Uba made its debut before an enthusiastic SRO crowd at New York's Public Theater. Orlando "Puntilla" Rios, a master of the various Cuban musical forms has been a member of this ensemble since its inception--providing Rosewoman with a valuable organic source, as she creates the group's repertoire. New Yor-Uba has gone on to appear in festivals throughout the United States and Europe. While the group remains unrecorded, you can get a hint on record of what New Yor-Uba is about by checking out the cuts featured on two Quintessence albums: "Akomado" from CONTRAST HIGH (Enja/1998) or "Warriors (Guerreros)," a title from HARVEST (Enja/1993). Both of these compositions exemplify the New Yor-Uba sound on a smaller scale.

In March of 1998, the group performed in a rare club setting at Sweet Basil. It marked their first time on a New York stage in over a decade, and cemented New Yor-Uba's status as a forerunner to the jazz world's current romance with Cuban music. Being so immersed in the traditions of contemporary jazz and religious Afro-Cuban folkloric music, it was inevitable that Rosewoman would give birth to this concept.

Her interest in Afro-Cuban music began in her late teens when she started playing congas. "The first time I heard Cuban music was like coming home," she exclaims. "There were such parallels to some of the contemporary jazz I was listening to, such as Miles Davis' recordings ESP and The Sorcerer. In both contexts, the time is often implied by what is NOT played. The music seems to float because there is an understanding amongst the musicians."

Upon coming to New York in 1978, Rosewoman began performing with several Cuban dance bands. Her very first recording was as pianist and arranger for the Cuban songo group Los Kimy in 1984. In the Latin music genre, she has worked with Puntilla's "Nueva Generacion," Celia Cruz, Paquito D'Rivera, Daniel Ponce, Chocolate, and Roberto Borrell among others.

Rosewoman's musical growth took root in Oakland, California where she began playing piano at age 6 in a home full of music, art and politics. She was exposed to the music of jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Earl Hines, as well as R&B, and music from cultures throughout the world.

At age 18 Rosewoman started playing piano for Laney Junior College's big band where she met the great pianist and teacher Edwin Kelly, who became an important mentor and friend. A whole new world opened up when Kelly introduced her to the jazz stars of her own generation--artists like John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Timmons, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan and Thelonious Monk. "Ed instilled in us an awareness of the larger concept of music as sound, and encouraged me to approach the tradition with my own voice. He was and remains a major inspiration."

Rosewoman's neighbor Baikida Carroll, a trumpeter and composer, introduced her to a musical approach that went beyond the mainstream; and through him she met artists like Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill, whose innovations in this new music would help shape her own ideas. "Their mastery of ensemble improvisation and compositional approaches became a part of my growing musical concept," she recalls. "With the encouragement of these New York based musicians I had come to know, I moved to New York and it was no doubt the best move I've ever made in terms of my evolution as a musician."
She went on to perform with the likes of Julian Priester, Jimmy Heath, Freddie Waits, Reggie Workman, Ray Drummond, and Carlos Ward. At the same time, she began to carefully establish a reputation as one of the most ingenious and prolific bandleaders of her generation. In addition to six recordings under her name, she has presented her various ensembles at jazz festivals, concerts halls, and jazz clubs all over the world. In the process, she has composed and arranged music for groups as small as trios and as large as 40-piece orchestras. "Duke Ellington is a prime example of someone who arranged and re-arranged the same music for difference contexts," she explains. "If a piece of music has substance, it's refreshing and challenging to adapt it to different musical settings. This is something that I love to do. "

FourSight a collaborative quartet she has most recently formed for a debut at Birdland in New York can be added to the list of musical vehicles that provide a context for Rosewoman's evolving group concept. Consistently she has worked with artists who share a similar vision. In Quintessence she called upon saxophonists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby, then Osby and Gary Thomas, followed by Thomas and Steve Wilson. Orlando Rios and percussionist Eddie Bobé have consistently been a part of New Yor-Uba. And for the first incarnation of FourSight, she recruited Robin Eubanks, Rufus Reid and Billy Hart--all musicians with whom she has worked over the years.

Rosewoman has always been active as a music educator, conducting classes, workshops and clinics, and teaching privately. Included among her past and current credits in this field are teaching positions at New York University and the New School for Social Research. She is also currently serving as consultant for the Montclair State University Summer Jazz Workshop.

Also committed to working with young people, she has served as musical director for the New York City Parks Department program, "New York Kids on Stage," where she formed the "Contemporary Youth Choir," the Carter G. Woodson Choir at Boys and Girls High in Brooklyn, and is currently working with children at the Ethical Cultural Center and the Southern Queens Parks Federation.

Ask Michele which part of her multi-faceted artistic personality most integrates her varied musical experiences, and without hesitation she'll say bandleader. "I continually strive to be a fair, thoughtful, creative and competent bandleader," she reveals. "You need a great deal of clarity and you have to be responsible and empathetic to everyone's situation. As I see it, I must make every effort to offer the best circumstance possible in terms of placing the performance in the right venues and providing a peaceful environment that allows musicians to focus so that the music can be all that it can be. After all, the musicians are offering me their musicality to help manifest my very personal vision. I consider that a gift and a blessing."


Check out Michele Rosewoman's Home Page at http://www.jazzcorner.com/rosewoman

Blue Note Records