Phil Markowitz
Encyclopedia
Phil Markowitz is a jazz pianist and educator.
He graduated from the Eastman School of Music
and in 1979 had his "first big break" working with Chet Baker
's band. He is most known as a sideman. He made a 1980 recording entitled Sno' Peas with Eddie Gomez
and Al Foster
. He recorded two live duo albums with Dave Liebman
and was a member of the Dave Liebman group.http://www.upbeat.com/lieb/bio.htm He calls his work with him the "biggest break of all" and they have worked together on and off for fifteen years. He has also served as a pianist in Bob Mintzer
's Big Band as well.
In 1979, he joined Chet Baker's band. That four-year association took him around the world and back again, and yielded such recordings as "Broken Wing", "Live at Nick's Place", "Two A Day", "Live at Chateauvallon", and "Live at The Rising Sun". Phil has performed and/or recorded with such notables as Mel Lewis, Marion McPartland, Phil Woods, Lionel Hampton, Nick Brignola, Joe Chambers, Miroslav Vitous and Joe Williams.
His recordings as leader include "Taxi Ride" (which features an incredible reunion with his lifelong friend, Toots Thielemans
), "In the Woods", "Sno' Peas", "Restless Dreams" (with vibraphonist Joe Locke
) and "7 plus 8", with Italian saxophonist Maurizio Giammarco.
Phil has recently been heard with the all-star group "Saxophone Summit" (with Michael Brecker
, Joe Lovano
and David Liebman), but his credentials span a cornucopia of jazz; from the traditional to the avant-garde.
Phil's notoriety as a composer came in the late 1970s when he was playing in a NYC club with Toots Thielemans. As they were playing Phil's composition, "Sno' Peas", pianist Bill Evans walked in, loved the song, and asked Toots to bring it to their upcoming recording session. Evans' and Thielemans' subsequent recording of "Sno' Peas" on the classic Grammy-nominated album, "Affinity", put Markowitz on the map as a venerable jazz composer.
As well as performing around the globe, Phil has served as guest artist and clinician in major conservatories and universities throughout the world. Academically speaking, however, his home base is the Manhattan School of Music, where he is a professor in the graduate and doctoral divisions.
Phil has received endowments and grants from The Howard Foundation, Chamber Music America-The Doris Duke Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts and The New York Foundation for the Arts. He is married to singer/actress Davia Sacks.
He graduated from the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
and in 1979 had his "first big break" working with Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
's band. He is most known as a sideman. He made a 1980 recording entitled Sno' Peas with Eddie Gomez
Eddie Gomez
Edgar "Eddie" Gómez is a Puerto Rican jazz double bassist born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, perhaps most notable for his work done with the Bill Evans trio from 1966 to 1977.-Biography:...
and Al Foster
Al Foster
Al Foster is an American jazz drummer. Foster played with Miles Davis's large funk fusion group in the 70s, was one of the few people to have contact with Miles during his retirement, and was also part of his comeback album The Man With the Horn of 1981...
. He recorded two live duo albums with Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman
Dave Liebman is an American saxophonist and flautist. In June 2010, he received a NEA Jazz Masters lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts.-Biography:...
and was a member of the Dave Liebman group.http://www.upbeat.com/lieb/bio.htm He calls his work with him the "biggest break of all" and they have worked together on and off for fifteen years. He has also served as a pianist in Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
's Big Band as well.
In 1979, he joined Chet Baker's band. That four-year association took him around the world and back again, and yielded such recordings as "Broken Wing", "Live at Nick's Place", "Two A Day", "Live at Chateauvallon", and "Live at The Rising Sun". Phil has performed and/or recorded with such notables as Mel Lewis, Marion McPartland, Phil Woods, Lionel Hampton, Nick Brignola, Joe Chambers, Miroslav Vitous and Joe Williams.
His recordings as leader include "Taxi Ride" (which features an incredible reunion with his lifelong friend, Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
), "In the Woods", "Sno' Peas", "Restless Dreams" (with vibraphonist Joe Locke
Joe Locke
Joseph Paul Locke is a US American jazz vibraphonist, composer, recording artist and educator.-Biography:Locke was born in Palo Alto, California, but raised in Rochester, New York...
) and "7 plus 8", with Italian saxophonist Maurizio Giammarco.
Phil has recently been heard with the all-star group "Saxophone Summit" (with Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
, Joe Lovano
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
and David Liebman), but his credentials span a cornucopia of jazz; from the traditional to the avant-garde.
Phil's notoriety as a composer came in the late 1970s when he was playing in a NYC club with Toots Thielemans. As they were playing Phil's composition, "Sno' Peas", pianist Bill Evans walked in, loved the song, and asked Toots to bring it to their upcoming recording session. Evans' and Thielemans' subsequent recording of "Sno' Peas" on the classic Grammy-nominated album, "Affinity", put Markowitz on the map as a venerable jazz composer.
As well as performing around the globe, Phil has served as guest artist and clinician in major conservatories and universities throughout the world. Academically speaking, however, his home base is the Manhattan School of Music, where he is a professor in the graduate and doctoral divisions.
Phil has received endowments and grants from The Howard Foundation, Chamber Music America-The Doris Duke Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts and The New York Foundation for the Arts. He is married to singer/actress Davia Sacks.
Literature
- Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler: The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, Oxford usw. 1999; ISBN 978-0-19-532000-8
External links
- Phil Markowitz's home page
- [ All Music]