'Uri Caine' (born
June 8,
1956 in
Philadelphia) is an American
classical and
jazz pianist and composer.
Caine began playing piano at seven and studied with French jazz pianist
Bernard Peiffer at 12. He later studied at the
University of Pennsylvania where he came under the tutelage of
George Crumb. He also gained a greater familiarity with classical music in this period and worked at clubs in Philadelphia.
He played professionally after
1981, and by
1985 had his recording debut with the Rochester-Gerald Veasley band. In the
1980s he moved to
New York City where he lives now. He also appeared on a klezmer album with
Mickey Katz and played with modern jazz musicians
Don Byron and
Dave Douglas.
Caine, who has recorded 16 albums, is celebrated for his eclectic and inventive interpretations of the classical repertoire. His 1997 jazz tribute to
Gustav Mahler received an award from the German Mahler Society, while outraging some jury members.
[1] Caine has also reworked
Bach's ''
Goldberg Variations'',
Beethoven's ''
Diabelli Variations'', as well as
Wagner and
Mozart.
In 2001 he teamed up with drummer Zach Danziger to conceive an original project fussioning live jungle and drum'n'bass beats with fussion jazz called "Uri Caine Bedrock 3", they have toured worldwide including a New York based dj called dj olive. Also in 2001 he released with Ahmir Thompson (former drum player with internationally acclaimed hip hop band "the roots"), and Christian Mc Bride (former bass player of Sting's live band) an eclectic album called "The Philadelphia Experiment" which contains jazz, funk, instrumental hip hop and jazz fussion. This album was produced by Aaron Levinson, and features excellent collaborations such as Pat Martino on guitar and Jon Swana on trumpet.
In 2005, Caine was named Composer-in-Residence of the
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra through the 2008-2009 Season. His father is Burton Caine, a professor at
Temple Law School.
External links
★
Uri Caine.com
★
BBC Radio 2
★
All About Jazz Interview
★
Review of Caine's Mahler
★
Uri Caine: Musical Midrashist