Russ Lossing (born 1960) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist, composer, improviser, arranger, educator, scholar.

Early life

Lossing was born in Ohio in 1960,Pietaro, John (February 2015) "Russ Lossing". ''The New York City Jazz Record''. p. 7. and is from Columbus, Ohio.Adler, Davi
"Phrase 6 – Russ Lossing"
Fresh Sound Records. Retrieved April 18, 2015. He had classical piano lessons from the age of 5 and began studying jazz aged 13 in Columbus at the Jazz and Contemporary Workshop with Dave Wheeler. He obtained a Bachelor of Music in piano at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1986. Meetings with composer John Cage had a big effect:

We only had two occasions to get together and talk, but any time spent with him was utterly valuable. He read through my scores we played piano together. His thing was creating, not emulating: don't copy; trust YOURSELF. I was already going in this direction but this experience, listening to Cage's concepts and philosophy in this setting, made so much sense.

Later life and career

Lossing has been part of the New York jazz scene since 1986. In 1988 he earned a Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music. He has led or co-led numerous bands, including: his own trio with Masa Kamaguchi and Billy Mintz; Three-Part Invention with bassist Mark Helias and trumpeter Ralph Alessi; and duos with saxophonist

Tim Berne Tim Berne (born October 16, 1954) is an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and record label owner. His primary instruments are the alto and baritone saxophones. Biography Berne was born in Syracuse, New York, United States. He has said that ...

, drummer Gerry Hemingway, and guitarist Ben Monder. Others are: trio with Paul Motian and Ed Schuller (Dreamer and As It Grows); trio with Mat Maneri and Mark Dresser (Metal Rat); trio with John Hebert and Jeff Williams (Phrase 6); quartet with Loren Stillman, John Hebert and Eric McPherson (Personal Tonal); King Vulture with Adam Kolker, Matt Pavolka and Dayeon Seok; and duos with saxophonist Loren Stillman, bassist John Hebert (Line Up,Hatology), and saxophonist Michael Adkins. Lossing played with drummer

Paul Motian Stephen Paul Motian (March 25, 1931 – November 22, 2011) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, and composer. Motian played an important role in freeing jazz drummers from strict time-keeping duties. He first came to prominence in the ...

over a period of 12 years and recorded ''Drum Music'', a solo piano tribute album to him in 2011. The ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' reviewer of ''Drum Music'' commented that "his two-fisted takes on 'Fiasco', 'Dance' and 'Drum Music' capture the great drummer's unpredictable and audacious rhythmic pulse. Lossing's stark re-imaginings of .. other Motian piecesall vibrate with a new spirit of exploration." Lossing has composed over 400 pieces of music. In 2015, he founded the record label Aqua Piazza.

Playing style

Scott Yanow, reviewing Lossing's ''As It Grows'', commented that the pianist "is influenced by modern classical music to an extent but his playing is not unremittingly atonal. Instead, he leaves his impressionistic music open to all possibilities, mostly emphasizing dramatic ideas and unexpected silences."Yanow, Scot
"Review"
AllMusic. Retrieved April 18, 2015. Lossing said of his own style: "Much 20th century composition is about interval play, especially Bartok and Schoenberg's. The 12-tone thing helped him to get his ideas onto paper, but it was always about the intervals. I'm a jazz pianist but my harmonic approach is based on this concept – finding new sounds and new expressions among the intervals."

Discography

An asterisk (*) indicates that the year is that of release.

As leader/co-leader

As sideman (partial list)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lossing, Ross American jazz pianists American male pianists Living people American jazz composers American male jazz composers Musicians from Columbus, Ohio Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Jazz musicians from Ohio 21st-century American composers 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American composers 1960 births 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Clean Feed Records artists Sunnyside Records artists 20th-century jazz composers 21st-century jazz composers