Stowell-Zilber
Guitar great John Stowell has joined forces with Michael to record originals and renditions of songs by Kenny Wheeler and John Scofield, as well as off the beaten track standards. Joined by the Bay Area’s #1 call rhythm team of John Shifflett (bass) and Jason Lewis (drums), the two have recorded solo, duo and quartet cuts which mix free playing, transparent ECMish settings and more hard-charging modern jazz. The first regular group for Michael with guitar instead of piano, the Stowell-Zilber quartet runs the gamut from the delicacy of the Beatles and A Brazilian to the abstracted New Orleans grease of Wabash 3 and the Nordic swing of Kayak. Says Zilber “John is the first guitarist I have played regularly with where I have not felt the absence of a pianist. He plays such rich and full and open chords that I am able to explore harmonically and spatially in a way that feels fresh and new to me.” The recording is currently set for an early fall release.