Shai Maestro
Piano
About
Shai Maestro is a talented jazz pianist and composer. He gained international attention while still a teenager after he joining Avishai Cohen's Trio in the mid-2000s. He toured with Cohen for five years and and together they co-wrote the celebrated trio album "Gently Disturbed." In 2011, Maestro formed his own trio, which includes bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Ziv Ravitz, and the group has since released six innovative albums. More recently Maestro has expanded his repertoire to include film scoring and orchestral works. He has collaborated with the Tokyo Philharmonic and, in 2022, unveiled his ambitious full-scale orchestral work, "Alice."
Trivia
As a young man Shai Maestro contemplated going to India to study Indian percussion. Shai Maestro has practiced yoga & meditation for many years. Shai Maestro's 2018 album "The Dream Thief" includes samples of former US President Barack Obama's voice.
Early Life
Shai Maestro was born in 1987 and grew up in a small village in Israel. He began playing classical piano at age 5 and developed an interest in jazz a few years later after hearing pianist Oscar Peterson. He attended Thelma Yellin High School of Performing Arts in Givataim, Israel and won the Jazz Signs National Jazz Ensembles Competition in 2002 and 2003. While high school he attended the Berklee College of Music's five-week Summer Performance Program and earned a full scholarship to the school, which he declined in order to finish up high school in Israel. A few months later he began playing with bassist Avishai Cohen and went on to perform and tour with Cohen's trio for the next 5 years.
Shai Maestro Solos
2015
Piano solo - Someday My Prince Will Come - 2015
6/8 waltz in B♭ major at 235 BPM
Piano solo - In Walked Bud - 2015
4/4 swing in A♭ major at 92 BPM