MISHA MENGELBERG
Genres: Avant-Garde Jazz, Third Stream • Ukraine

Misha Mengelberg, an avant-garde pianist and composer who was one of the founders of the Dutch jazz and experimental music orchestra Instant Composers Pool, and who recorded with Fred Anderson, Derek Bailey, Eric Dolphy, Dave Douglas, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Roswell Rudd, Ken Vandermark and many others, died March 3, 2017 at age 81 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease. Born in 1935 in Kiev, Ukraine, Mengelberg spent his formative years in Holland after his family left the former U.S.S.R. to escape political unrest. Although he started playing the piano at a young age, Mengelberg first pursued a degree in architecture before changing to music theory and composition at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague. Given that his father, Karel, and great uncle Willem Mengelberg were both well-known orchestra conductors, the switch was unsurprising. After university, Mengelberg became interested in the music of John Cage as well as blurring the lines read more...