50 | AUGUST 24 • 2023 

T

exas-raised pianist and 
composer Michael 
Weiss studied at Indiana 
University and met Detroit-
raised pianist and composer 
Barry Harris in the 1970s. Their 
shared interests and talents 
launched a friendship that last-
ed decades.
This year, Weiss brings a 
trio to the Detroit Jazz Festival, 
running Labor Day weekend 
on Downtown stages, and cele-
brates the work of the musician 
so important in his own career. 
Bassist Peter Washington and 
drummer Lewis Nash join 
Weiss to present tunes by 
Harris and Weiss as well as 
standards Harris liked to play.
The tribute, “To Barry With 
Love,
” will be performed at 5:45 
p.m. Monday, Sept. 4, on the 
Pyramid Stage.
“Barry was one of the most 
important jazz musicians from 
Detroit,
” said Weiss, who has 
attended Interlochen Center 
for the Arts and been a fea-
tured artist over the years in 
Michigan. 
“Barry dedicated his life to 
teaching throughout the world, 

and he was a mentor to all the 
great jazz musicians in Detroit 
during his time there. Even 
when he was in high school, all 
the great jazz stars who came to 
Detroit to perform would come 
to Barry’s house to study. 
“Barry was my closest musi-
cal compadre, and we collabo-
rated on many piano projects 
together. We talked about 
music on a weekly basis for 
decades. I was his musical con-
fidante in a way,
” he added.
Weiss readily references 
Harris’s nomenclature about 
the intricacies of harmony and 
melody and describes how the 
two pianists could analyze and 
get to the core fundamentals 
of the music. The Weiss Trio, 
Weiss said, will be very gratified 
to be the first to honor Barry in 

his hometown since he passed 
in December of 2021.
Weiss, whose newest 
recording is being released in 
November, describes Homage 
(on Cellar Live) as done by a 
trio that features new compo-
sitions by him along with work 
by others and standards.
“My work schedule varies so 
much year to year,
” said Weiss, 
who lives in Brooklyn, keeps a 
Kawai piano in his home and 
has performed at five or six of 
the Detroit Jazz Festivals with 
different instrumental configu-

rations. Four of those times, he 
served as leader of the perform-
ing group.
“In earlier years, I toured 
quite a bit, but it’s a different 
era now as far as performing 
goes, so I don’t tour as much as 
I used to. I might go out for a 
tour for a couple of weeks or a 
couple of days,
” he said.
The last time Weiss, who 
teaches as well as performs, 
traveled in Michigan was before 
the pandemic. His more inti-
mate appearances took place at 
the Kerrytown Concert House 
in Ann Arbor and Cliff Bell’s in 
Detroit. He conducted work-
shop sessions at Michigan State 
University in East Lansing and 
Schoolcraft College in Livonia.

A LIFELONG LOVE OF JAZZ
“I knew how much I liked 
music and how much it was a 
central part of my life when I 
was a child, a kid, a teenager,
” 
said Weiss, who had his bar 
mitzvah in Texas. “I don’t know 
if I thought that far ahead about 
a profession until I was in high 
school. Certainly, by the time I 
was in high school, I didn’t con-
sider doing anything else with 
my life.
“I went to Indiana University 
when there were still only just 
a few universities that had 
full-fledged jazz degree music 

ARTS&LIFE
MUSIC

Honoring 
 A Detroit 
 Jazz Legend

The Weiss Trio will pay 
homage to composer 
Barry Harris at Detroit’s 
Jazz Fest on Labor Day 
weekend.

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Details 
The free Detroit Jazz Festival 
runs Sept. 1-4 in downtown 
Detroit. The Michael Weiss Trio 
can be heard in tribute to Barry 
Harris at 5:45 p.m. Monday, 
Sept. 4, on the Pyramid Stage. 
detroitjazzfest.org.

Michael 
Weiss

JOHN ABBOTT

Michael Weiss and 
Barry Harris in 
Flushing in 1984

