Award Winning Pianist Andy Milne

// ABOUT ANDY MILNE AND UNISON

A fearless, versatile explorer as a pianist and composer, Andy Milne has been a distinct and respected voice at the heart of New York’s creative jazz scene for almost 30 years, collaborating with dancers, visual artists, poets and musicians spanning jazz, classical, pop, folk, and world music. At the piano, he skillfully blends poetic gravitas with a playful sense of order.

He has recorded and toured throughout the world with Ravi Coltrane, Ralph Alessi, Carlos Ward and Carla Cook, and has collaborated with a range of artists including Andrew Cyrille, Sekou Sundiata, Avery Brooks, Bruce Cockburn, Fred Hersch, Ben Monder, Dianne Reeves, Jen Shyu, Tyshawn Sorey and Jamie Baum. A former student of Oscar Peterson, Milne was at the center of the M-BASE Collective as a core member of saxophonist Steve Coleman’s bands, as well as performing with Cassandra Wilson and Greg Osby. Milne composed and produced the scores for seven documentary films by acclaimed director William Shatner and has now released eleven recordings as a leader or co-leader. Milne is presently an assistant professor of music at the University of Michigan in their Department of Jazz & Contemporary Improvisation. 

Originally from New Orleans, John Hébert, has been a highly sought-after New York bassist since the mid-1990s. A former student of Rufus Reid, he has collaborated extensively with pianists Fred Hersch and Andrew Hill, appearing on celebrated recordings from each pianist. He has also performed with Lee Konitz, Paul Bley, John Abercrombie, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Motian, Uri Caine, Bill Stewart, Mary Halvorson, Tomasz Stanko, David Liebman, and Toots Thielemans, among many others. An accomplished bandleader, Hébert’s 2015 Sunnyside release Rambling Confessions — his quartet featuring Milne — received critical acclaim, including 4.5 stars from Downbeat. Over the past decade, he has been named multiple times as a “Rising Star Acoustic Bassist” in Downbeat’s Critics Poll and has received multiple GRAMMY Award nominations. Hébert is a full-time professor of bass at Western Michigan University.

Clarence Penn is one of the most in-demand jazz drummers in the world. A composer, bandleader, and prolific producer, he performs regularly with Maria Schneider, Dave Douglas and Uri Caine. Since 1991 when he arrived in New York City, Penn has placed his unique blend of mega-chops, keen intellect, and heady musicianship at the service of a staggering array of A-list artists including Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, Stanley Clarke, Steps Ahead, Makoto Ozone and Michael Brecker. His impressive discography includes several hundred studio albums, including GRAMMY Award-winning recordings from Randy Brecker and Maria Schneider, representing a 360-degree spectrum of jazz expression. He has toured extensively throughout the United States, the Americas, Europe, Japan, and Southeast Asia, as well as composed music for films and commercials, and produced tracks for numerous singers in the pop and alternative arenas.

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