Jean-michel Pilc & Ari Hoenig Duo at The Falcon

Born in Paris, and now an American citizen, self-taught Jean-Michel Pilc has performed with Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Jean Toussaint, Rick Margitza, Martial Solal, Michel Portal, Daniel Humair, Marcus Miller, Kenny Garrett, Lenny White, Chris Potter, John Abercrombie, Mingus Dynasty & Big Band, Lew Soloff and Richard Bona. Pilc has also worked with Harry Belafonte, as his musical director and pianist.

In 2015, Jean-Michel has released "What Is This Thing Called?", his third solo album and first release for Sunnyside Records. Jean-Michel is also a virtuoso whistler (as documented on a solo piano & whistle track in the CD “Christmas from the Blue Note” released in 2010 on the "Half Note" label). ...

read more

Born in Paris, and now an American citizen, self-taught Jean-Michel Pilc has performed with Roy Haynes, Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Jean Toussaint, Rick Margitza, Martial Solal, Michel Portal, Daniel Humair, Marcus Miller, Kenny Garrett, Lenny White, Chris Potter, John Abercrombie, Mingus Dynasty & Big Band, Lew Soloff and Richard Bona. Pilc has also worked with Harry Belafonte, as his musical director and pianist.

In 2015, Jean-Michel has released "What Is This Thing Called?", his third solo album and first release for Sunnyside Records. Jean-Michel is also a virtuoso whistler (as documented on a solo piano & whistle track in the CD “Christmas from the Blue Note” released in 2010 on the "Half Note" label).

Since September 2015, Jean-Michel has joined McGill University's jazz faculty in Montreal as an Associate Professor, teaching jazz, piano, improvisation.

"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, The New York Times

"Ari Hoenig is one of the most maniacally obsessive, spasmodic and musical drummers in jazz." - JAZZ TIMES

Hoenig is known for his unique ability to modify the pitch of a drum, using drumsticks, mallets, and even parts of his body. He can play any note in the chromatic scale, virtually any melody, and even improvise on a chord structure in the same way as any other instrumentalist would.

After playing in each other's trios for some time, Ari and Jean Michel formed the Hoenig Pilc Project in 2006 to meld their two trios into a single, bold musical statement. Ari plays with these two groups at his regular Monday night gig at Smalls in the Village, and presents other side projects and experiments.

Currently, Ari Hoenig tours worldwide and performs weekly at legendary NYC clubs. He is also the co-leader of Pilc, Moutin, Hoenig, with his long time musical partners.

Other artists Hoenig has performed or recorded with include Shirley Scott, Jean Michel Pilc, Mike Stern, Kenny Werner, Joshua Redman, Wayne Krantz, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Richard Bona, Chris Potter, Toots Thielemans, Pat Martino.

show less