Misha Piatigorsky's Sketchy Black Dog

The virtuosic and super-creative jazz pianist Misha Piatigorsky is no stranger to JazzFest, but ¬you’ve never seen – or heard – him quite like this! The Russian bornPiatigorsky fled from behind the Cold War-era Iron Curtain and moved with his family to New Jersey. It didn’t take long for this classical pianist to morph into one of the most innovative musical artists on the international scene, playing everything from Brazilian music with guitarist Freddie Bryant to straight-up jazz with Joe Lovano and Jon Faddis. His current obsession is cranking out music under the name of Sketchy Black Dog, a piano trio with strings that is dedicated to classic rock tunes by the likes of Bowie, Zeppelin and Hendrix. A compelling melodicist with a gift for unusual harmonics, Piatigorsky takes these familiar songs to strange and wonderful places. He performs with Chris Wabich drums, Neil Swainson bass, Cassia Streb viola, Muge Buyukcelen violin, Tori Lindsay violin and Noelle Crabtree cello.

“Beautifully merging the worlds of serious jazz and pop.” –Boston