Jazz Articles about Jean-Michel Pilc

like 174

Jean-Michel Pilc: New Dreams

by Budd Kopman
February 6, 2008

From the first notes of the opening tune “But Not For Me" on the wonderful New Dreams, you know that pianist Jean-Michel Pilc is a master improviser. What he does goes way, way beyond the changes and involves getting at the most essential kernel of the tune. Finding it, he can mutate it in countless ways because he knows that we can hear its connection to the tune, all the while holding our mental breaths as he darts away from ...

like 206

The Jean-Michel Pilc Trio at The Jazz Standard, NYC

by Budd Kopman
October 21, 2007

The Jean-Michel Pilc Trio at the Jazz StandardThe Jazz StandardNew York City, New YorkOctober 3, 2007 The very air crackled as pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, with his long-time compatriot, drummer Ari Hoenig and bassist Christopher Tordini tore through a set in the way only Pilc can. Having just come out with a new album, New Dreams (Dreyfus, 2007), the pianist devoted part of the set to tunes from that album. However, since ...

like 165

Jean-Michel Pilc: New Dreams

by Laurel Gross
October 14, 2007

Like a master builder, pianist Jean-Michel Pilc constructs and reconstructs, but instead of fixed or stable edifices his creations are more like castles in the air. All the better. There's nothing stiff or rigid about what he makes through his playing and composing so there's room for listeners to breathe as they explore these new spaces with him. If all this sounds a bit strange, just listen to New Dreams. Move along with him note to note, ...

like 252

Jean-Michel Pilc: Live At Iridium, New York

by Budd Kopman
December 13, 2005

If you have heard Jean-Michel Pilc live or on record, you will know that Live At Iridium, New York may bring goosebumps. Together, the tracks represent an excellent splicing job of tunes from sets over three nights in October 2004 to make up what sounds like one set. The record will almost certainly make you say, “Man, I wish I had been there! The energy of the trio is amazing and so is the stamina on display, ...

like 258

Jean-Michel Pilc: Live at Iridium, New York

by Brian P. Lonergan
November 16, 2005

French pianist Jean-Michel Pilc has composed some attractive music in his decade in New York, and he is a dynamic improviser as well. On Live at Iridium, New York, recorded in the fall of 2004, the latter quality is most prominent. Live at Iridium is the first recording featuring Pilc's new trio with bassist Thomas Bramerie and the thundering drummer Mark Mondesir. The first half of the record is largely a showcase for a suite of Thelonious ...

like 249

Jean-Michel Pilc Trio at The Jazz Bakery

by Jim Santella
March 28, 2005

The Jazz Bakery Los Angeles, California March 18, 2005

One influential factor in the winning formula that pianist Jean-Michel Pilc has adopted for his modern mainstream trio is the eye to eye contact that the threesome utilizes continuously. Drummer Tony Moreno had set up his kit so that he faced the pianist throughout the evening. Similarly, bassist Darek Oles positioned himself so that he could maintain eye contact for their Jazz Bakery concert set. With this ...

like 556

Jean-Michel Pilc: Follow Me

by Andrew Durkin
January 8, 2005

Given the Francophobia that has reared its ugly head in American politics over the last few years, it's a relief to see that Stateside jazz fans, at least, are still open to the contributions of European practitioners of the art form. So, for instance, Jean-Michel Pilc's latest CD, the somewhat generically named Follow Me , has been getting great reviews here in the States. And why shouldn't it? A former scientist, Pilc plays with a precision that in places is ...