Caine, Uri (8th June 1956-Present)

He is a pianist and composer born in Philadelphia to a family where his father is a professor at the Temple Law School and his mother is a poet.

When he was just seven he began to play the piano and by the time he was twelve years old he was taking lessons with Bernard Peiffer who was a French composer and jazz pianist who had the nickname “Le Most”.

His further musical studies were taken with George Crumb and the University of Pennsylvania and at the same time he performed at various clubs and became more aware of classical music. After finishing his studies and became a professional musician he moved to New York City, where he has remained.

During the course of his career he has performed with many orchestras, bandleaders and musicians that include Bootsie Barnes, Don Byron, the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Dave Douglas, Philly Joe Jones, Jymmie Merritt, Hank Mobley, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Grover Washington Jr. to name but a few..

In 1985 he made his first recording with the Rochester/Veasley Band. Since then he has released 22 of his own recordings to date of classical and jazz music which include his Sphere Music, Toys, Blue Wail, Sidewalks of New York: Tin Pan Alley, Solitaire and Rio, reworking of works by Mozart, Robert Schumann and Wagner as well as Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach and Diabelli Variations by Ludwig van Beethoven. He has also recorded an album of klezmer music with Mickey Katz, performed on several albums by other artists and released his award winning jazz tribute to Gustav Mahler in 1997.

Moving into the new millennium he co-created the Uri Caine Bedrock 3 project in 2001 in collaboration with the drummer Zach Danziger. The project which has fusion jazz fused with drum, bass and jungle beats has since made a world tour. Working on further ventures in 2001 he released his recording The Philadelphia Experiment.

In 2003 he became the Director of the Venice Bienniale for Music.

He has been given commissions by many orchestras and ensembles including the American Composers Orchestra, Beaux Art Trio, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, Concerto Koln, Seattle Chamber Players and the Vienna Volksoper. He became the composer-in-residence for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 2006 and stayed with them until 2009. Also busy on other things in 2006 he made his recording of Moloch: Book of Angels Volume 6. Two years later he appears as a guest in Genoa for the 2008 Italian Jazz Awards.

Recognised for his work in music he was given an unrestricted grant and a United States Artists Fellowship in 2010.

During 2013-14 he was the composer-in-residence at Mannes College.

In 2011 he released his latest recording with his jazz trio entitled Siren.

Sources:

Caine, Uri (8th June 1956-Present)

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