sation to jazz composition. "Each title
comes after I've written the music. I
look back at it and ask what it makes
me think of when I listen to it, and
then I try to come up with a title.
"I haven't written music that has
specifically Jewish themes, but it's
quite possible that some of those
sounds have slipped in subliminally.
The chanting in Jewish songs and
prayers was part of my upbringing, so
I wouldn't deny there's a possibility of
those influences!"
Weiss, who has traveled to Israel
with family and to perform, explains
what made jazz his prime interest.
"The limitless possibilities of jazz
attracted me to says Weiss, who
provides excerpts on his Web site,
www.michaelweiss.info/index.htm.
"I like the complexity of the music,
the warmth and feelings that go
into making it, the opportunities
for expression and the tools of that
expression!'
Weiss started working before gradu-
ating from high school. He played with
a trio in a restaurant and felt the fun
more than the work.
Playing professionally intensified
while he was a student at Indiana
University. He performed in a variety
of settings in Bloomington, where the
university is located.
"In addition to playing jazz, I was
playing all kinds of music for dances
and various functions," he says. "That
was the means for me to find out what
was required to be able to play in a
variety of circumstances as sideman
or leader.
"That was great training for my
coming to New York, which I did
several times before I moved there as
soon as I finished college. My imme-
diate goal was to play with the best
musicians, which has been the means
of artistic development in jazz from
the beginning!"
Weiss went on to work with Art
Farmer, Wynton Marsalis, Slide
Hampton and many other big-name
instrumentalists. Besides develop-
ing his own recordings, such as
Milestones and Power Station, he has
been part of recordings that featured
the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks

Orchestra, Charles McPherson and
Doug Raney.
Weiss thinks of composing as
improvisation at a slow pace that
allows for editing. He explains that the
transition just sort of happened in the
1990s.
"A lot of the satisfaction of compos-
ing is in the small details:' he says. "I
start with one note or one phrase or a
little bit of a melody, and it goes from
there. I mostly compose at the piano,
but I've written complete songs away
from the piano!'
When Weiss is away from audiences,
he indulges another keyboard direc-
tion.
"I enjoy playing a lot of classical
music at home, and there are early
20th-century Russian composers that
intrigue me he says.
"I've never really been interested
in adapting classical repertoire to a
jazz setting, but there is one exception
where I found a way to do it that was
satisfying to me!"
Weiss, in a long-term relationship,
enjoys travel, an interest fostered by
his dad, Harry, who escaped France
the day before the Nazis arrived
in Paris and entered the United
States with the help of the Hebrew
Immigrant Aid Society.
Weiss is working on a new record-
ing project started last year. Some of
the pieces are the product of a com-
position grant, and he will be playing
selections from that initiative at Music
Hall.
"My closest connection to Detroit
happens to be with the jazz musicians
that come from Detroit," Weiss says.
"I've had professional associations
with so many of them — Tommy
Flanagan, Hank Jones, Marcus
Belgrave, Joe Henderson. I feel a kin-
ship with the city because of all the
jazz greats!"

❑

The Michael Weiss Quintet per-
forms at 9:30 and 11:30 p.m.
Friday-Saturday, May 23-24, at
the Music Hall, 350 Madison,
in Detroit. $14-$19. (313) 887-
8500.

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1398110

J14

May 22 • 2008

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