Takuya Kuroda

early next year will see the release of the album the guesthouse, a new chapter in shai maestro’s creative journey. in the past years, the pianist developed his solo work, becoming a worthy successor to his great examples keith jarrett and chick corea, with a rich sound and open-ended improvisations. now he will focus on short compositions with clear, song-like forms. the album toom shape in his home studio in spain and was influenced by different artists ranging from rosalía to paul simon and john coltrane. shai maestro began playing classical piano at the age of five and after listening to oscar peterson at the age of eight he became enamoured with jazz. he turned down offers from prestigious american music schools to join the trio of famous double bassist avishai cohen at age nineteen. for five years he celebrated success with cohen and drummer mark guiliana. in his current band, shai maestro seeks interaction with gadi lehavi on rhodes and synthesizers, known from the ravi coltrane quartet. ‘maestro certainly lives up to his name. he is a joy to watch live’ (jazzwise).