Michel Petrucciani - Both Worlds: Live at the North Sea Jazz Festival (2016)

Label: Dreyfus Jazz

Source: Michel Petrucciani

Michel Petrucciani was born on December 28, 1962 in Orange, Vaucluse, France and passed away on January 6, 1999 in New York City.
Michel Petrucciani was born to Italian parents in Montpellier, France. His family was musical, and as a child he played the drums in a band with his father, Tony, a guitarist, and his brother Louis, a bassist. Michel was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as “glass bones,” a disease that stunted his growth (he was only three feet tall and weighed barely 50 pounds) and weakened his bones.
From the beginning, Petrucciani had always been musical, reportedly humming Wes Montgomery solos by the time he learned to speak. The musician that would prove most influential to Petrucciani was Bill Evans, who he began listening to at around the age of ten. Petrucciani’s layered harmonies, lyrical style, and articulation of melody have always been linked most strongly to this early exposure to Evans. Petrucciani trained in classical piano starting at the age of four, and was making music with his family by the age of nine.
When Michel was thirteen, he gave his first concert as a professional at the Cliousclat Festival. He had to be carried onto the stage, and used a special attachment to work the sustaining pedal of the piano.  This disadvantage didn’t affect his hands, however, and, according to reports, he played with amazing vigor and enthusiasm.   Also performing at the festival was the American trumpeter Clark Terry, who needed a pianist that day. When Michel offered him his services, Clark thought it was a joke. “‘Let’s play the Blues,’ he said. The minute Michel played, Clark embraced him, and that was where it all started.
After his stint in Paris, Petrucciani returned to his family only for a brief visit. He began his professional life living with the drummer Aldo Romano. Petrucciani began recording with Owl Records and began a friendship with the recording company’s owner, Jean-Jacques Pussai. Pussai recalls that Petrucciani always seemed to be in a hurry to record, saying, “I don’t want to lose time.” But eventually Petrucciani desired independence from Romano too. Romano remembers: “He didn’t feel free with me. He needed to escape. He needed to go very far, as far as he could go, and that was California.” Read more...

1. 35 Seconds Of Music And More
2. Brazilian Like
3. Training
4. Colors
5. Chloé Meets Gershwin
6. Chimes
7. Take The "A" Train
8. Home (Live With TheHague Philharmonic) Bonus
9. Trilogy In Blois (Live With The Hague Philharmonic) Bonus

Michel Petrucciani
Anthony Jackson
Steve Gadd
Flavio Boltro
Stefano Di Battista
Denis Leloup

BUY IT @