Bassist John Lang offers a distinguished resume in performance, arranging and composition. Lang is most recognized in New York as a straight-ahead bassist. He hosted the Burgundy Wine Jazz Duets Series for 8 years in the early 2000s, featuring such modern-days stars as Saul Rubin, Ehud Asherie, Kris Kaiser, Yotam Silberstein, Jeremy Manasia, Nat Harris, Vito Dieterle, Larry Ham, Tardo Hammer, Michael Moore and Randy Napolean. Lang’s quintet has performed at Smalls, The Jazz Forum, Fat Cat, Little Branch, Times Square Café, The Hawaiian Tropic Room and Toons.

Lang founded La Onda Va Bien, the Latin jazz ensemble that recorded 2003’s “La Vuelta,” featuring 10 of his original songs. His second CD, “Lend Me Your Ears,” premiered at Smalls in 2009 and was called “a rare collection of swing and modernity” by reviewer Scott Yanow. Lang is a member of the Kolotov Mocktails, a modern jazz band comprised of stellar jazz musicians from across the United States. The band’s 2020 debut recording “Ivy Hall,” is enjoying radio play and positive reviews from fans and critics alike. He released “Now Ear This,” his first electric project, to rave reviews in 2021. “NET” features 9 original songs as well as fresh arrangements of “Pusherman” and “Four on Six” and was produced by jazz legend John Patitucci. Modern drumming powerhouse Richie Morales noted the album’s “clear arrangements, great solos and tight ensemble work. Take a listen!” Lang is currently a member of the Kolotov Mocktails, a new American jazz band. Their debut recording, “Ivy Hall” is enjoying radio play and critical acclaim in America and Europe.

Lang has recorded and arranged for many Broadway singers including Natalie Toro and Rita Harvey, as well as for the cast recordings of Fat Camp and the Adventures of Flat Stanley. His big band arrangements were featured in the 2006 production of “Little Jack Frost,” a recreation of a 1940s radio show, and he has toured internationally with the Jack Cassidy and Adrienne Hindmarsh trios.

Lang also doubles on electric bass and in that capacity has performed and recorded with Kinny Landrum and the Gumbo Roux, Cady Huffman, Mary Ann Renza, Rocksteady, Stolen Moments, and Sis Boom Bah.

He has served on the faculty of the Music Conservatory of Westchester since 2014, and maintains a healthy roster of private students. In the fall 2020 he began studies as SUNY Purchase for a master’s in jazz performance under bassist Doug Weiss. Lang resides in the Hudson River Valley, just north of New York City, with his wife Damaris and son Milo.

Rahul Shah is a saxophonist and a woodwind doubler from Birmingham, Alabama. Having
graduated in May of 2022 from Eastman School of Music, he is currently pursuing his graduate
degree in Jazz Performance, as a student of Vincent Herring, at the Manhattan School of Music.

Rahul has participated in programs such as the award-winning First Edition Jazz Band, who have
competed in competitions such as the Savannah Swing Central competition and Essentially
Ellington.

Rahul has had the opportunity to play alongside distinguished musicians such as John Clayton,
Clay Jenkins, and Jeff Cambell just to name a few. He has studied with his role models such as
Vincent Herring, Charles Pillow, Gary Versace, Melissa Aldana, Sam Dillon, Bill Dobbins,
Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Printup, amongst others.

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“he can focus the intensity in a tune as well as any pianist in mainstream jazz.”
– New York Times
“Weiss’ shrewd writing and arranging skills are as clearly in view as his sleek piano work”
– The New Yorker
“An energy and irrepressible inventiveness… The nimbleness of Weiss’ technique was
matched by the intellectual heft of his ideas.” – Chicago Tribune
“Weiss’ compositions take on different shapes, great complexity and fresh perspectives”
– Washington Post
“One of the most fluent and flexible pianists of his generation.” – BMI Music World
“Combines the wonder of spontaneity with a workmanlike acknowledgment of his
materials: art and craft in delightful balance.” – Chicago Reader
You can tell a lot about a musician by the company he keeps. The star-studded resume
that pianist and composer Michael Weiss has quietly assembled over the past 40 years
proves that some of the greatest names in jazz have long considered Weiss one of the best
in the business. Since arriving in New York in 1982, the Dallas native has forged a
formidable career working in the bands of jazz legends Johnny Griffin, Art Farmer,
Benny Golson, Slide Hampton, Frank Wess, Jimmy Heath and the Heath Brothers,
George Coleman, Charles McPherson, Jon Hendricks, Lou Donaldson, Junior Cook/Bill
Hardman Quintet, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and Mingus Epitaph Orchestra. Weiss’
fifteen year association with Griffin, yielded four recordings and annual tours in the USA
and around the world. He has also performed with Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Clark
Terry, Clifford Jordan, Gary Bartz, Phil Woods, Pepper Adams, Joe Lovano, Ron Carter,
David Newman, Gerry Mulligan, Nancy Wilson, Randy Brecker, Tom Harrell, Gerry
Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, and numerous other jazz greats.
As a band leader, Weiss has headlined at the Village Vanguard, Detroit Jazz Festival,
Detroit Symphony Hall, Smithsonian Institution, and major New York venues such as the
Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Birdland, Bradley’s, Iridium, Sweet Basil, Smoke and Merkin
Concert Hall. Reviewing his Vanguard debut, the New York Times wrote that Weiss
“demonstrated a strong sense of leadership and organization” exhibiting “sensitivity and
logic, along with crisp control.” Television appearances include CBS-TV’s Nightwatch
and PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center: The City of Jazz. NPR radio appearances include
PianoJazz with Marion McPartland, Making the Music with Wynton Marsalis, Jazzset, and
the Jazz Piano Christmas Special. Weiss was the 1989 second prizewinner in the
Thelonious Monk Institute’s International Piano Competition.

Weiss has also been recognized for his writing. He was the grand prize winner of the
2000 BMI/Thelonious Monk Institute’s Composition Competition presented to him by
Wayne Shorter, and is a two-time Chamber Music America New Works grant recipient.
Weiss’ compositions reveal eclectic influences from the worlds of jazz, 20th Century
classical and popular music. Weiss focuses on extended forms, thematic development and
attention to detail.
In 2022 Weiss celebrates the release of his fifth recording as a leader, Persistence (Cellar
Live). His previous recordings on the CrissCross, SteepleChase, DIW and Sintra labels
have been hailed by the critics:
“Weiss has a rich palette of composing devices at his command” – Downbeat
“Weiss’ original compositions conjured a distinct world of sound, a testament to the
nature of Weiss’ imagination.” – Chicago Tribune
“Warmth, integrity and above all, originality. Weiss’ originals are formful and dynamic
enough to sound as if they were standards of the genre.” – JazzTimes
“the songs simply smoke” – Detroit Free Press
“Weiss is a vital talent with something important to say” – All About Jazz
“About as close to perfection as a recording can get….If there is truly justice in our
world, this should be a Grammy nominee.” – Jazz Improv
“A prodigious bop-and-beyond pianist and composer…. consummate musicianship and
alluring improvisations” – The Star Ledger
“This music lives and breathes freshness and exhilarating originality. The individual
selections are strong and attractive enough, to still be played as jazz vehicles in 10, 20,
or even 50 year’s time.” – Jazz Journal
“a masterwork. Soul Journey is terrific. The work is majestic, brash and dynamic
throughout.” – Jazzwax.com
As a sideman Weiss appears on recordings of Johnny Griffin, Frank Wess, Charles
McPherson, Steve Grossman, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Ronnie Cuber, Louis Smith,
Dick Oatts, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and others.
Weiss is deeply committed to jazz education. He has held faculty positions at Indiana
University, Hartt College of Music, Queens College. In master classes and residencies
throughout the world Weiss aims to relay his bandstand experience through a host of
topics that directly address the standards and performance practices required of a
professional jazz musician.
Visit www.michaelweiss.info