Shai Maestro (born February 5, 1987)
is an Israeli
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 major ...
pianist.
Biography
Shai Maestro began playing classical piano aged five and graduated from the Thelma Yellin High School of Performing Arts in Givataim, Israel. After winning the National Jazz Ensembles Competition Jazz Signs in 2002 and 2003 and receiving scholarships (2004 to 2010) from the America-Israel Cultural Fund for jazz piano, he attended
Berklee College of Music
Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...
's Five-Week Summer Performance Program in Boston, where he was awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee, an offer he declined.
A few weeks later, bassist
Avishai Cohen invited him to join his trio with drummer
Mark Guiliana
Mark Guiliana (born September 2, 1980) is a Grammy-nominated American drummer, composer and leader of the band Beat Music. He is known for his playing with Avishai Cohen, Brad Mehldau, David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gretchen Parlato, Jason ...
. He recorded four albums with the Avishai Cohen Trio, including two for
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...
: ''Gently Disturbed'' (2008), ''Sensitive Hours'' (2008), ''Aurora'' (2009), and ''Seven Seas'' (2011). He toured with the trio.
In July 2010, Maestro formed a trio and recorded ''Shai Maestro Trio'' for the French label Laborie Jazz. The trio toured around the world, playing up to 80 concerts a year and sharing stages with groups led by
Chick Corea
Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...
,
Tigran Hamasyan
Tigran Hamasyan ( hy, Տիգրան Համասյան; born July 17, 1987) is an Armenian jazz pianist and composer. He plays mostly original compositions, which are strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and mod ...
,
Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984) is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Award, and a Soul Train Music Award.
A native of Portland, Oregon, Spalding be ...
, and Diana Krall. In 2012, the trio released their second album, ''The Road to Ithaca'', for Laborie Jazz. This was followed by ''Untold Stories'' (2015) and ''The Stone Skipper'' (2016). The albums were praised by ''
DownBeat
' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...
'' magazine,
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, and WBGO's The Checkout. He recorded ''The Dream Thief'' (
) with Ofri Nehemya on drums and Jorge Roeder on bass. The album was recorded at Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in April 2018 and was produced by
. Besides his trio, he contributed to an album by vocalist