Michael Wolff is a renowned jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader
known for his virtuoso performances and innovative style. After leaving
music school early to join the Latin jazz great Cal Tjader’s band in the early
’70s, he spent the next two decades gigging and recording extensively.
Wolff can be heard on over 21 recordings with a veritable hall of fame
ranging from Tjader to Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Nancy Wilson,
Sheila E, Christian McBride, Tony Williams, and more. During this time, he
mingled with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Duke Ellington Band,
and the Count Basie Orchestra.
In addition to appearances at esteemed global venues such as
Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Birdland, Bach Dancing and Dynamite
Society, Snug Harbor, and Mezzrow, Wolff has performed with and
conducted over 25 symphony orchestras worldwide including The Dallas
Symphony, The Fort Worth Symphony, The Berlin Radio Orchestra, and
The Atlanta Symphony. He has also performed as a soloist with The
Memphis National Symphony and The Pittsburgh Symphony.
Wolff became a part of pop culture in 1989 when he began a five year tenure
as the musical director of the high-energy house band on
Arsenio Hall’s groundbreaking late-night talk show. This journey led to him
accompanying saxophonist and Presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992,
as well as backing musical giants including Ray Charles, B.B. King, Patti
LaBelle, Whitney Houston, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Al Green, James
Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Jerry Lee Lewis, and Warren Zevon. He also
served as musical director for Nancy Wilson.
In the summer of 2015, a grueling four-year battle with a rare form of
blood cancer had the pianist-composer on the ropes and flat on his back.
He fell into a coma in the lobby of a New York hospital, where the prognosis
quickly moved from doubtful to death’s door. At one point, the doctor asked
his wife, award-winning actress, director, and writer Polly Draper, if she’d
signed a Do Not Resuscitate order. Through the haze of drugs and
debilitating illness, Wolff lifted his head up and growled: “Resuscitate me!”
His sons Nat and Alex, in the midst of their ascent as two of the most
talented actors of their generation, returned home to be with their father to
comfort him. They played guitars and sang at his bedside, tapping into the
sweet, winsome gifts that had made the Wolffs a famous musical family
nearly a decade earlier, via the hit Nickelodeon TV series The Naked
Brothers Band. “When I got sick, it was tough on the whole family,” Wolff
says. “My wife really had to take care of me, and it was hard on everybody.
“I guess it just wasn’t my time,” he laughs today, “So now everybody’s flying
free, which is great.”
Michael Wolff documents these highs, lows, and ultimately triumphs
in his memoir, On That Note: a Memoir of Jazz, Tics, and Survival.
Nominated by the Jazz Journalist Association in 2023 for “Book of the Year:
Biography/Autobiography”, the bestseller details not only his rich musical
career but also his journey as an outsider growing up with Tourette
Syndrome to near-death and triumph over cancer. Wolff often recites and
riffs on sections from his powerful, adventurous, and humor-filled memoir in
both his solo and trio performances. His experiences also inspired him to
write and record material for his latest record “MEMOIR”, to be released on
Sunnyside Records in the spring of 2024. Before “MEMOIR”, he released
14 albums to both critical and popular acclaim.
Wolff is a recipient of the BMI Music Award, the winner of the Gold
Disc Award in Japan (“Jumpstart” recorded with Tony Williams and
Christian McBride), and the recipient of the Hamptons International Film
Festival’s award for best film score for The Tic Code. In addition to The Tic
Code, he has composed the scores for many other film and television
projects, such as Made Up, Dark Angel, Who’s the Man, and The Naked
Brothers Band. Most recently Michael wrote the score for the new Polly
Draper film, Stella’s Last Weekend.
In addition to working as a clinician, Wolff currently serves on the
faculty at New York University’s Jazz Studies program, where he teaches
both ensembles and private students. He is a Yamaha/Bosendorf artist.
“While I have begun to feel less possessed by my music,
and the accomplishments of being a musician, I have
become more attuned to my inner voice – my inner ear,
my spirituality, and my true musical self. I’ve almost lost
the need to be hip, different, or consciously interesting,
and instead, have been letting the music that feels right
comes out.” – Michael Wolff
