Home » Jazz Musicians » Jean-Michel Pilc

Jean-Michel Pilc

Born in 1960 in Paris, France, now also an American and Canadian citizen, self-taught pianist and composer Jean-Michel Pilc has performed with numerous jazz giants: Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Jean Toussaint, Rick Margitza, Michel Portal, Daniel Humair, Marcus Miller, Kenny Garrett, Lenny White, Chris Potter, John Abercrombie, Mingus Dynasty & Big Band, Lew Soloff, Richard Bona etc. He has also worked with Harry Belafonte, as his musical director and pianist, and has performed a duet with the legendary opera singer Jessye Norman.

Since he became a professional musician in the late 80’s, Jean-Michel has constantly been very active internationally, touring over 60 countries including all of Europe as well as Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Abu Dhabi, South America, Mexico, USA and Canada. In addition to his own projects, he has been in high demand as a co-leader and sideman, participating in numerous projects over the world and recording a lot of albums. Among these projects and recordings: duos with Kenny Werner, Sam Newsome, Sylvain Luc and the legendary Martial Solal, trio with Thomas Bramerie & André Ceccarelli Twenty, guitarist Teriver Cheung Hong Kong Episodes, Greek bass player Petros Klampanis Contextual, NYC drummer Tony Moreno Short Stories, Moutin Reunion Quintet Deep, Brazilian guitarist Fabio Gouvea, Dutch bassist Jasper Somsen A New Episode In Life, Danish bassist Mads Vinding Open Minds, and many others.

Jean-Michel moved to New York City in 1995 and formed a new trio with François Moutin (bass) and Ari Hoenig (drums). They recorded a one-week engagement at the legendary jazz club Sweet Basil and, in 2000, released two CDs: Together – Live at Sweet Basil, NYC – Vol. 1 & 2 (A-Records). Pilc then signed a record deal with Dreyfus Jazz. His first album for Dreyfus, Welcome Home (featuring the same trio), was released in 2002. Jean-Michel’s next recording, Cardinal Points, was released the following year. It featured his extended work Trio Sonata, created with generous support from Chamber Music America New Works: Creation and Presentation Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

In 2004, Jean-Michel released his first solo album, Follow Me (Dreyfus). Then he returned to trio format to record Live at Iridium, NYC, in 2004, New Dreams in 2006, and True Story in 2009 (featuring Billy Hart). He also received his second New Works Grant from Chamber Music America for the writing and performance of Modern Lights, a composition reflecting Charlie Chaplin’s work. The project was premiered at the Caramoor Jazz Festival in August 2009.

Jean-Michel’s next two albums were both released in 2011 on the Motema label to critical acclaim : Essential, a live solo piano recording, and Threedom, featuring his legendary trio with François Moutin & Ari Hoenig, which had re-formed in 2010 under the collective name Pilc Moutin Hoenig. A documentary by John McCormick titled Jean-Michel Pilc – A Portrait (Living Jazz Archive) is released on the same year.

In 2013, Jean-Michel was granted the prestigious Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, in the Music Composition category. The project was an octet, Big One, featuring all new original music.

In 2015, Jean-Michel released his third solo album, What Is This Thing Called? (Sunnyside), followed, in 2018, by his fourth, Parallel (Challenge Records).

Jean-Michel has built a strong international reputation as a unique educator. Between 2006 and 2015, he was a NYU Steinhardt faculty member, giving private lessons (all instruments), ensemble classes and improvisation workshops. He was Co-Director of NYU Summer Jazz Improv Workshop in 2010. Jean-Michel also taught for the New School in NYC, as well as privately. At the same time, he released a book, It’s About Music – The Art and Heart of Improvisation (Carl Fischer) and an educational video for all instruments, True Jazz Improvisation (JazzHeaven), followed by another video for JazzHeaven, Transcending the Instrument, about piano playing and practicing. All have been praised by his colleagues, and highly influential in the field of jazz education. Jean-Michel keeps releasing pedagogical material on a regular basis, including 2 video masterclasses on Improvisational Fluency (MyMusicMasterclass), 2 online lessons in French and English, Anatomy of a Standard and The Art of Ballad (iMusic School), a series of improvisation tutorials on Patreon, the online lesson Total Improvisational Control (The Crescent), among others.

In September 2015, Jean-Michel joined the Jazz Faculty at The Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal. Now a tenured Full Professor, he teaches jazz, piano, and improvisation (all instruments), as well as a Seminar on improvisation in all styles to a large group of McGill jazz and classical students. He has acted as Jazz Area Chair between 2016 and 2018.

Living in Montreal, Jean-Michel has become a very active constituent of the local jazz scene, participating in many Montreal-based projects as a leader, co-leader and sideman. In 2016, he created the Improvisation Workshop Project, funded by the Fonds de Recherche du Québec -Société et Culture (FRQSC). He has also been a special guest of the Montreal-based Orchestre National de Jazz and a sideman of many Montreal musicians, as illustrated by his recent discography and concert schedule. He is also present on the Toronto and Ottawa jazz scene, playing with Kirk MacDonald and Roddy Ellias, and continues to perform with NYC-based groups such as Pilc-Moutin-Hoenig and his US Trio with Sam Minaie and Jerad Lippi.

Jean-Michel is now a Justin Time Recording Artist. He has released three albums on the label: Alive – Live at Dièse Onze, Montréal with Rémi-Jean-Leblanc & Jim Doxas, the solo CD Symphony, and the Pilc Moutin Hoenig album You Are the Song. A number of solo singles and EPs have also been released on the same label.

Jean-Michel is also a virtuoso whistler, as documented on several recordings including a solo piano & whistle track in the CD Christmas from the Blue Note (2010, Half Note).

Awards

In 2013, Jean-Michel was granted a Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, in the Music Composition category.

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Stephane Wrembel: Triptych, featuring Jean-Michel Pilc

Read "Triptych, featuring Jean-Michel Pilc" reviewed by Scott Gudell

by Scott Gudell
December 4, 2024

If Stephane Wrembel's early influences partially evolved from guitarists in classic rock bands such as Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, it was not long before the French-born guitarist was drawn forever to the creative and romantic sounds of gypsy jazz master guitarist Django Reinhardt. Elements of Reinhardt's often brisk style would drift in and out of many of Wrembel's releases. Dreamers of Dreams, his 2014 release (Water Is Life Records, the artist's label), featured not only stand out cuts such ...

Album Review

Sam Newsome, Jean-Michel Pilc: Cosmic Unconsciousness Unplugged

Read "Cosmic Unconsciousness Unplugged" reviewed by Neri Pollastri

by Neri Pollastri
November 27, 2023

Talentuosissimi strumentisti ed eccellenti improvvisatori, Sam Newsome e Jean-Michel Pil tornano a registrare assieme a sei anni di distanza dal loro Magic Circle. E lo fanno con lo stesso spirito, cioè andando in studio senza scalette o programmi predefiniti, fidandosi dell'intesa consolidata e delle comuni preferenze, per snocciolare una serie di improvvisazioni alternate a storici standard, il tutto interpretato in modo estremamente personale anche grazie all'uso di “preparazioni" sui rispettivi strumenti. Quest'ultimo aspetto del lavoro viene valorizzato fin ...

Album Review

JD Walter: What the World Needs Now

Read "What the World Needs Now" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 15, 2023

JD Walter beckons listeners into a soulful and captivating journey through modern jazz interpretations of non-jazz material. With his unique vocal stylings and innovative arrangements, he brings a fresh perspective to familiar popular tunes, and several jazz standards, while delivering thought-provoking original compositions. From the very first track--Stevie Wonder's “Golden Lady"--it is evident that Walter's vocal prowess is a force to be reckoned with. He dashes along in full flight and then effortlessly shifts into intricate ...

Album Review

Jean-Michel Pilc: Symphony

Read "Symphony" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
March 20, 2023

On November 28, 2021, at the completion of a two-day recording session for Galician saxophonist Xose Miguélez's Contradictio (Origin, 2022) at CARA-OJM Studios in Matosinhos, Portugal, pianist Jean-Michel Pilc had a little time on his hands. And with a gorgeous Steinway right in front of him, beautiful acoustics in the room and engineer José Trincado at the ready to record, it proved to be the perfect opportunity to explore the moment. The result, a stunning statement on subliminal complexities and ...

Album Review

Xose Miguélez: Contradictio

Read "Contradictio" reviewed by Jane Kozhevnikova

by Jane Kozhevnikova
July 1, 2022

After an album of Spanish-flavored original tunes, Ontology (Origin Records, 2019), Galicia-based saxophone Xose Miguélez releases Contradictio. Alongside Miguélez, the album features Jean-Michel Pilc on piano, Carlos Barretto on bass and Marcos Cavaleiro on drums. Both Miguélez and Pilc are listed as the album producers. The forceful energy of this great French pianist comes out in every tune. Unlike Ontology, Contradictio includes several jazz standards. “You and the Night and the Music," written by Arthur Schwartz, starts ...

Album Review

Xose Miguelez: Contradictio

Read "Contradictio" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian

by Hrayr Attarian
June 22, 2022

Galician composer and saxophonist Xose Miguelez has established himself as a mainstay of the international jazz scene. His superb second release as leader, Contradictio, showcases his talents to the full. A taut quartet session, it consists of inventive originals and clever arrangements of standards. Well- versed in bop and his own ethnic music, Miguelez excitingly fuses both traditions. The warm, tense opener “Meniña" starts with bassist Carlos Barretto's dramatic refrains. Once the ensemble launches into the main theme ...

Album Review

JD Walter: Dressed in a Song

Read "Dressed in a Song" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer

by Victor L. Schermer
February 28, 2020

JD Walter is a consummate vocalist who has devoted himself over many years to evolving a unique style that is nevertheless ensconced in the jazz tradition. The public relations sheet for this new CD states that “this is his first release since recovering from a life-threatening heart condition and surgeries on his heart and vocal cords." It states that this is a “comeback" record. That is a misnomer. In this recording, he takes the music to new levels of structure, ...

Interview

Jean-Michel Pilc: Room to improv

Source: Michael Ricci
July 25, 2010

Virtuosic pianist Jean-Michel Pilc finds success by following intuition Mathematics and music are often seen as complementary fields, realms governed by beautifully confluent systems of logic. But for Jean-Michel Pilc--an aerospace engineer by training and jazz pianist by calling--music exists in a universe apart, where intuitive communion on the bandstand transcends the left-brain's dominion. Self-taught and resistant to theory, Pilc has developed a coruscatingly melodic approach inspired by his formative musical exposure, listening to jazz records as a 7-year-old, memorizing ...
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434

Recording

Dreyfus Jazz (USA) Presents the European Modernists: Jean-Michel Pilc, Aldo Romano, Rosario Giuliani and Philip Catherine

Source: Michael Ricci
June 19, 2010

Jazz, once a singularly American invention and one of the United States' greatest exports, has become a truly international phenomenon, with important players from all over the world making valuable contributions to the music's evolution. Europe, previously home to many of the most devoted connoisseurs of the art form, is now also the producer of some of the most innovative voices in jazz. With the inauguration of its European Modernists series Dreyfus Jazz is proud to bring U.S. audiences some ...
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144

Recording

Jean-Michel Pilc Trio - 'True Story' CD Release Performance at the Iridium in NYC Wednesday May 26th, 2010.

Source: Two for the Show Media
May 25, 2010

Jean-Michel Pilc Trio - 'True Story' CD Release

May 26th, 2010 - 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM

Jean-Michel Pilc, piano / Boris Kozlov, bass / Billy Hart, drums

“a musical genius at work." -Eric Brace, The Washington Post

“Pilc ranks among today's titans of the instrument" -Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune

“Mr Pilc seems to have dropped from the sky fully formed, with technique and his ideas in place. He is a physical and densely harmonic player, a splashy stunner who ...
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102

Recording

Dreyfus Jazz Presents European Modernists: Jean-Michel Pilc Tour

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
April 8, 2010

Jean-Michel PILC 'True Story' (DRY CD 36950) Street Date April 20, 2010 Aldo Romano 'Origine' (DRY CD 36947) Street Date April 20, 2010 Rosario Giuliani 'Lennie's Pennies' (DRY CD 36952) Street Date April 20, 2010 Philip Catherine 'Capbreton' (DRY CD 36941) Street Date May 18, 2010 Jazz, once a singularly American invention and one of the United States' greatest exports, has become a truly international phenomenon, with important players from all over ...
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258

Recording

Jean-Michel Pilc - True Story (Dreyfus)

Source: Master of a Small House
March 9, 2010

Possessing a technique suggestive of years of rigorous training, French pianist Jean-Michel Pilc is actually an autodidact. His self-honed skills at the keyboard are immediately impressive and evince Bill Evans impressionism by way of Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. His left hand is very nearly as mighty and variable as his right allowing for overlapping runs of dizzying density and detail. Free playing in systemic manners akin to Michel Pettruciani and early Cecil Taylor also falls with in the scope ...
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147

Recording

Pianist/Composer Jean-Michel Pilc Releases New CD Titled "True Story" on Dreyfus Jazz

Source: Two for the Show Media
February 19, 2010

Pianist/Composer Jean-Michel Pilc releases new CD Titled “True Story" on Dreyfus Jazz

“Music is the universe once again" --Schopenhauer

Music speaks better than words - but sometimes words, such as Schopenhauer's here can catch the magic which makes this art form so unique. And magic is the word for Jean-Michel's new trio. Three painters and storytellers who mesmerize their audiences with something that goes far beyond notes and craft. We won't attempt to define that “something." It must be heard ...
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Performance / Tour

JD Walter & Jean-Michel Pilc Duo Friday August 3rd at the the Jazz Gallery 9 & 10:30 P.M.

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
August 2, 2007

The Jazz Gallery An International Jazz Cultural Center 290 Hudson Street New York, NY 10013 Tel: 212-242-1063 Friday August 3rd 2007 Friday, August 3rd: 9 & 10:30 p.m. ($15) JD Walter & Jean-Michel Pilc Duo JD Walter is one of the most compelling and original male jazz vocalists on the scene. Pianist Jean-Michel Pilc is “a physical and densely harmonic player, a splashy stunner who also has a ...
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Performance / Tour

Jean Michel Pilc at Iridium Sept 14-18 + WKCR this Wed 6 to 9 PM

Source: All About Jazz
September 6, 2005

September 6, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] Jean-Michel Pilc New Trio with Thomas Bramerie (b) & Mark Mondesir (d) Wed-Sun, Sept 14-18 @ Iridium Jazz Club, NYC Only NY appearance of the band in 2005 Celebrating the release of our upcoming CD “Live @ Iridium, NYC" (Dreyfus Jazz), in stores Oct 2005 Sets: 8:00pm and 10:00pm (Wed, Thur & Sun) - 8:00pm, 10:00pm and 11:30pm (Fri & Sat) IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY ...
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Performance / Tour

Jean-Michel Pilc at the Iridium Jazz Club Oct. 19

Source: All About Jazz
September 28, 2004

Performance / Tour

Jean Michel Pilc Trio + David Murray Cuban Big Band At The Iridium

Source: All About Jazz
December 24, 2003

New Show Times Nightly at 8:00, 10:00 Third Set Fri. and Sat. At 11:30 PM

Tuesday- Wednesday Jan. 13-14 Jean Michel Pilc Trio Thomas Bramerie, Bass, Ari Hoenig, Drums

Thursday-Sunday, Jan. 15-18 David Murray Cuban Big Band

About Jean-Michel Pilc

Born on October 19, 1960 in Paris, France, Jean-Michel Pilc has been playing jazz piano since he was 10. Largely self-taught, he has emerged as one of the most well-known and well-respected European pianists, composers and arrangers on the scene ...
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"His densely harmonic reinventions of standards you thought you knew clearly shows a musical genius at work." Eric Brace, The Washington Post "There may be no more diverse, unpredictable jazz piano player, song to song, than Jean-Michel Pilc." Thomas Conrad, JazzTimes "A dazzlingly inventive pianist." Nate Chinen, The New York Times "Jean-Michel Pilc belongs right in the front row." John Fordham, Guardian Unlimited (UK, **** review) “One of the astounding jazz piano trios of the past decade.” Don Williamson, Jazz Review "Mr Pilc seems to have dropped from the sky fully formed, with technique and his ideas in place. He is a physical and densely harmonic player, a splashy stunner who also has a Rubik's-cube mind for chord substitutions." Ben Ratliff, New York Times "...visual art references come to mind: Cubist renderings of melody in which the original is reshaped into a completely different visual perspective; the shimmering opaqueness of Impressionism in some of Pilc's lush harmonies..." Don Heckman, Los Angeles Times "Follow Me" stands a major summation of Pilc's keyboard art, which has no counterparts. Pilc ranks among today's titans of the instrument... there's more to his art than the speed, precision and power of his 10 phenomenal fingers." Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune(2004 10 best jazz CDs) "I am absolutely stunned by the work of pianist Jean-Michel Pilc... The rhythm section sizzles under (his) leadership." Bob Dorough, vocalist. "...make no mistake about it, to his credit, Mr. Pilc is very unique... I would say that this trio starts at Mars, and then goes from there. Don't expect anything resembling conventional interpretations. This is fascinating and rewarding music..." Rick Helzer, Jazz Improv "The big discovery in the acoustic field was Jean-Michel Pilc. His sound is majestic, his statements urging http://otcpills.net..50/(link is external). Supported by an equally strong rhythm section it didn't take him much effort to get Carel-Willinck Hall steaming..." NRC Handelsblad, reporting on a North Sea Jazz Festival appearance. "While never dry or abstract, Pilc is a model for playing a little to say a lot." Mark Keresman, Jazziz "should be studied in every music school in the galaxy..." Harvey Siders, Jazz Times +Top 50 Picks for Critics Picks 2003 "...ridiculously well-balanced, and trading in the kind of grace that still has the power to shake a room. Keith Jarrett found something similar... Pilc's nudging it a bit further down the line." Down Beat, four Star Hot Box review

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Primary Instrument

Piano

Location

Montreal

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Jean-Michel has also built a strong international reputation as a very unique educator. Between 2006 and 2015, he was a NYU Steinhardt faculty member, giving private lessons (piano and other instruments), ensemble classes and improvisation workshops. He was Co-Director of NYU Summer Jazz Improv Workshop in 2010. Jean-Michel also taught for the New School in NYC, as well as privately. At the same time, he released a book, It's About Music - The Art and Heart of Improvisation (Glen Lyon) and an educational video for all instruments, True Jazz Improvisation (JazzHeaven), followed by another video for JazzHeaven, Transcending the Instrument, about piano playing and practicing. All have been praised by his colleagues, and highly influential in the field of jazz education. Since September 2015, Jean-Michel is an Associate Professor at The Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal. There, he is teaching jazz, piano, and improvisation (all instruments), and also a Seminar on improvisation in all styles to 30 McGill jazz and classical students. He has acted as Jazz Area Chair between 2016 and 2018. Jean-Michel also keeps releasing pedagogical material, including 2 video masterclasses on Improvisational Fluency for MyMusicMasterclass.com, as well as a masterclass in French, Anatomie d'un standard, for iMusic School.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Primary Instrument

Piano

Location

Montreal

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Clinic/Workshop Information

My name is Jean-Michel Pilc, I am a jazz pianist & composer, and Assistant Professor of Jazz & Improvisation at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I moved there in 2015, after spending 20 years in the NYC area. More biographical information can be found on my website, www.jeanmichelpilc.com. My teaching is entirely based on my own experience as a self taught artist, who was hearing, then singing and tapping, then imitating, then playing music I loved. Before being a musician, I was, first and foremost, a music lover, and I am still in love of course. You’re probably noticing the intensive use of the word 'love' here. Well, I really believe that the best engine for progress is love; love for the music, love for discovery, love for the sensations that the musical act makes you feel, love for the sensual, physical experience which you not only enjoy, but also communicate to the listener. When you are really “in the zone” while playing, you become a listener yourself, you hear and feel the music coming out of you, and you find yourself in the center of a magical energy loop. You are both music emitter and music receiver. And when you improvise, this miraculous process becomes amplified organically by the personal, natural, instantaneous, spontaneous, unique, “in the moment” creation act which needs no explanation nor analysis. A real state of grace can then be accessed. You speak music, you are music, instead of just playing it. Music, like life, becomes an experience, a discovery, and a revelation. Music is an art, it is a language. Improvisation, like life, is an experience where senses play a crucial part. Science and discipline matter only insofar as the feeling, the passion, the fire, the love and the mystery are present. My philosophy and my goal when teaching music are to make sure you build your craft the right way, from good, strong fundamentals, and that, thanks to simple but original rhythmic, melodic, physical, vocal exercises, your instrument becomes your voice, not just a tool which stands in the way of your creativity. You will discover improvisation in the same way you discover life, and my exercices are based on simple but striking analogies between the two: breathing, walking, jumping, appreciating distances, driving, meeting people, having conversations... Fluency, fun and authenticity are the key words here. I want you to be a musician, first and foremost, not a theoretician or a trained expert. I want you to experience emotions, feeling, swing, groove, beauty, and, last but not least, pleasure. I want to convey to you the fire and the passion without which music is just a word. If my fire and passion can feed yours, then I will consider myself successful here! So… let’s get started. Rhythm will come first, and as you’ll see, there are already quite a lot of things we can do here. I will help you become a self taught musician, with autonomy, curiosity, passion, and... love. I will help you live improvisation to the fullest. I look forward to working with you.

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