Uri Caine
Web Site
December 2000

Interview By
Vic Schermer

Goldberg Variations
Reviewed By
Glenn Astarita

Uri Caine was born in Philadelphia and began studying piano there with Bernard Peiffer. While in High School, he began playing in bands led by Philly Joe Jones, Hank Mobley, Johnny Coles, Mickey Roker, Odean Pope, Jymmie Merritt and Grover Washington. He attended the University of Pennsylvania and studied music composition with George Rochberg and George Crumb. While in school, he played with many of the visiting musicians who played in Philadelphia including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Benny Golson, Phil Woods, Donald Byrd, J.J. Johnson, Stanley Turrentine, and Lester Bowie. Since moving to New York City, Caine has recorded nine albums as a leader. His first two CD’s Sphere Music (JMT/ Polygram 1993) and Toys (JMT/Polygram 1995) paid homage to the great jazz pianists Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock. His third CD, Urlicht/Primal Light (Winter & Winter 1996), featured arrangements of the music of Gustav Mahler and won the international ‘‘Composer’s Hut’’ award for Best Mahler CD of 1997. In Wagner in Venezia (Winter & Winter 1997), Caine arranged the music of Richard Wagner for a small ensemble playing live at the Café Quadri in St. Mark’s Square, Venice. His next CD, Blue Wail (Winter & Winter 1998), included original compositions for Jazz piano trio and featured Ralph Peterson (drums) and James Genus (bass). In 1999 he released The Sidewalks of New York (Winter & Winter ) a tribute to early Tin Pan Alley, and Mahler in Toblach (Winter & Winter) a live concert recorded at the Gustav Mahler Festival. Recently two more CD’s have been released- a version of Schumann’s ‘‘Dichterliebe’’ song cycle, Love Fugue (Winter & Winter 2000), and a new version of the Goldberg Variations (Winter & Winter 2000). Caine also composed a ballet for the Vienna Volksoper which premiered in June 2000. A solo piano CD will be recorded in the Fall of 2000 and will be released in 2001. During the past several years, Caine has worked in groups led by Don Byron, Dave Douglas, Terry Gibbs and Buddy DeFranco, Clark Terry, Rashid Ali, Arto Lindsay, Sam Rivers and Barry Altschul, the Woody Herman Band, Robben Ford, Annie Ross, the Enja Band, Global Theory and the Master Musicians of Jajouka. He has received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has performed at many jazz festivals including What Is Jazz? Festival (New York), North Sea Jazz Festival (The Hague), Montreal Jazz Festival. Jazz Across the Borders (Berlin), The Texaco Jazz Festival (New York), San Sebastian Jazz Festival, Vittoria Jazz Festival, The Newport Jazz Festival, The Salzburg Festival, The Munich Opera, and others. Read Vic Schermer's (December 2000) interview with Uri Caine.

Blue Wail Reviewed By Glenn Astarita C. Michael Bailey Gustav Mahler in Toblach Reviewed By Glenn Astarita David R. Adler Derek Taylor Tin Pan Alley Reviewed By David R. Adler C. Michael Bailey