Michael Wolff

Michael Wolff is a jazz pianist and composer whose urbane style moves fluidly between post-bop, fusion, and world music. He came up in the 1970s alongside vibraphonist Cal Tjader before joining Cannonball Adderley's band in 1975, and went on to work with Sonny Rollins, Nancy Wilson, Tony Williams, and Christian McBride. In 1989 he became the bandleader and musical director for The Arsenio Hall Show, a role that brought his playing to a national television audience. With his group Impure Thoughts he folded global percussion into his writing, and in the Wolff & Clark Expedition he partnered with longtime drummer Mike Clark. Born in 1952 in Victorville, California, he recounted his life in music, Tourette Syndrome, and survival in his 2022 memoir On That Note.