Michael Wolff / Impure Thoughts Biography
Michael Blieden Wolff, 31 July 1952, Victorville, California, USA. Raised in both Memphis and New Orleans, Wolff was a child prodigy, playing piano from the age of eight. Encouraged by his father, a Memphis physician and jazz fan, he later studied music at UCLA, UC Berkeley and the Manhattan School Of Music. At 19 he left college to join Cal Tjader’s band where he remained for two years, a period that included a world tour and four albums. Basing himself in New York City, he later performed and sometimes recorded with jazz musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, appearing notably on the 1975 Fantasy date Phenix, Sonny Rollins, Jean-Luc Ponty, Airto Moreira
and Flora Purim, Tom Harrell, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, and the Thad Jones - Mel Lewis
Jazz Orchestra. He also enjoyed a long engagement touring worldwide as musical director for Nancy Wilson. From 1989 to 1994 he was musical director for The Arsenio Hall Show on television. In the mid- to late 90s, Wolff turned his attention more to composing and he also toured with his own band, performing at many prestigious venues, including the Playboy, Berlin, Mount Hood and Monterey jazz festivals. He has also written scores for films and television shows. Outside of jazz, Wolff has appeared as featured soloist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, performing his own music, and has composed a jazz ballet with playwright-cartoonist Jules Feiffer. From childhood Wolff suffered from a rare medical condition, Tourette’s Syndrome, although this was discounted mainly because he lacked one of the most obvious symptoms ? involuntary swearing. Not until he was in his mid-thirties was the diagnosis confirmed, and in the late 90s he became deeply involved in work with organizations formed by and for sufferers of the disease. His wife, actress Polly Draper, wrote a screenplay based upon his early life and for which Wolff composed and recorded the soundtrack. Following its release in 1998, the movie, The Tic Code starring Draper and Gregory Hines, was critically acclaimed and won awards at the Hampton International Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival and the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy. In performance, Wolff is a dynamic player, bringing to his work intensity and dramatic flair. His compositions reveal an artist with great breadth of vision and the technical skills to bring this to fruition.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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