The Michael Malis Trio is a forward looking, compositionally motivated improvising ensemble based in Detroit, MI. The trio’s debut album, featuring all original compositions by Malis, is set to be released this summer.

Consisting of pianist Michael Malis, bassist Ben Rolston, and drummer Stephen Boegehold, the group performs weekly at Cliff Bell’s, a club in downtown Detroit, either as a trio or as the rhythm section of the Marcus Elliot Quartet, featuring saxophonist Marcus Elliot. This standing engagement has served as an incubator for the band’s original music, and the music from the upcoming release has been developed in these performances.

The trio completed a tour of the Great Lakes region in 2013, including performances in Chicago, Traverse City, MI, and Grand Rapids, MI. As individuals, members of the trio have performed across the country and internationally, have released recordings in a wide variety of ensembles, and are quickly becoming staples in the Detroit jazz and improvised music communities.

Exuberant, buoyant, and thoughtful, the Michael Malis Trio is soulful and complex, groovy and abstract, compositional and improvisational. Inspiration comes from a variety of sources, including many of the archetypal figures of the jazz pianist-composer tradition, such as Andrew Hill, Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor, and Bud Powell. The band is also influenced by the great paragons of Detroit’s own musical legacy, including Marcus Belgrave, Geri Allen, Robert Hurst, Jaribu Shahid, and Vincent York, all of whom members of the trio have performed and/or studied with.

http://www.michaelmalis.com/

http://michaelmalistrio.bandcamp.com/