Micah Thomas
With global contagion having shut down communal music-making for a long while, the value of recordings has rarely been quite so apparent. This time of quarantine can be one of digging deep into old favorites and new discoveries. One of the most intriguing new voices of the current moment is that of pianist Micah Thomas. Born in 1997 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Micah was playing songs on the piano by ear at just age 2, starting private training on the instrument not long afterward. As a high-school sophomore, he began touring across the country with violinist Christian Howes. The young pianist also played with the likes of saxophonist JD Allen and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra before moving to New York City in 2015 to study at the Juilliard School. Micah has since performed as a leader of his own groups at such clubs as Smalls and Dizzy’s, as well as a sideman for the likes of Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, Lage Lund, Melissa Aldana, Etienne Charles and Harish Raghavan. Micah has appeared as a guest with Wynton Marsalis’s Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and as a solo performer at the Newport Jazz Festival. Now, Micah releases his debut recording: Tide, which will be available digitally and on CD on June 19, 2020. The trio disc showcases Micah performing in league with bassist Dean Torrey and drummer Kyle Benford, recorded live over two sets one night at the intimate New York City club Kitano. The album showcases a suite-like set of Micah’s compositions, one piece flowing into the next with lyrical verve, the sound somehow both hauntingly familiar and beguilingly fresh.
As veteran pianist and Juilliard instructor Frank Kimbrough says, Micah’s music-making “embodies the respect and knowledge of tradition while pointing straight at the future of jazz.” Aaron Parks – the virtuoso jazz player who was himself a striking talent early on, winning the Cole Porter Fellowship prize of the American Pianists Association in 2001 – underscores Kimbrough’s point: “Micah is a special one. His playing has a restlessly inventive and futuristic tilt while simultaneously remaining deeply rooted in the history of the music – all delivered with curiosity, patience, humor and care. I make a point to hear him as often as I can, as he always inspires and is constantly evolving. To me, Micah is one of the most exciting musicians of his generation.”
One musician who has worked closely with Micah in New York is standout guitarist Lage Lund, who drafted the young pianist to join his band about three years ago, while Micah was still at Juilliard. “I had originally heard talk about Micah from Frank Kimbrough and others,” Lund recalls, “but there have always been new guys popping up in my 20 years here, so I kind of forgot about it. Then I randomly saw a live feed of Micah playing solo, and for the second time ever – Sullivan Fortner being the first – I heard a pianist a generation or so younger than me who instantly became one of my favorite musicians. I think he was playing ‘Gone with the Wind,’ or a similar standard, in a fully formed, original voice, so clear and refreshing. We ended up getting together for a duo rehearsal, and I felt that I had finally found something – something I hadn’t even realized that I had been waiting for. Then he told me his age, and I went home feeling extremely old – but also excited about the music we could make together. I can count the number of times that has happened on Django Reinhardt’s left hand.”
Current Release
2020
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