Maestro began playing classical piano at age five under the instruction of Irena Krivatz and graduated with honors from the Thelma Yellin High School of Performing Arts in Givataim, Israel. After winning the National Jazz Ensembles Competition “Jazz Signs” in 2002 and 2003 and receiving excellency scholarships 2004-2010 from the America-Israel Cultural Fund for jazz piano, Maestro attended Berklee College of Music’s Five-Week Summer Performance Program in Boston, where he was awarded a full scholarship to attend Berklee full-time—an offer Maestro ultimately declined. Maestro’s intuitions proved right: just a few weeks later, he received a phone call from bassist Avishai Cohen, known for his long-time collaboration with Chick Corea as well as for his successful band-leading career. The bassist called to invite Maestro to join the Avishai Cohen Trio with drummer Mark Guiliana.

Maestro recorded four albums with the Avishai Cohen Trio, including two on Blue Note Records: Gently Disturbed (2008), Sensitive Hours (2008), Aurora (2009), and Seven Seas (2011). The trio toured the world and played at some of the world’s most renowned venues and festivals, including Olympia Hall in Paris and the Vienna and Berlin Concert Houses, to name a few. In July 2010, Maestro formed his own trio with Peruvian bassist Jorge Roeder and Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz and just a few months later, the trio recorded their well- received first album, Shai Maestro Trio, for the French label Laborie Jazz. The trio began an intense schedule of touring the world, playing up to 80 concerts a year and sharing stages with groups led by Chick Corea, Tigran Hamasyan, Esperanza Spalding, and Diana Krall. In 2012, the trio released their second album for Laborie Jazz, entitled The Road to Ithaca, making an even more personal and intimate statement, going back to the essence of their being: unedited and raw.

Following that line of thought, the Shai Maestro Trio released their most recent albums Untold Stories and The Stone Skipper in October 2014 and November 2016. Listeners and the media outlets alike, including DownBeat Magazine, NPR, BBC, JazzFM, TSF, and WBGO’s The Checkout, received the albums with critical acclaim. With these albums, Maestro entered a new phase in his artistry: taking time, fearing less, daring more, and allowing the music to unfold organically, more than ever. Especially live, the natural developments made the trio one of the most powerful and harmonious groups in the jazz today. See them live at Blue Note on March 16th.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: https://www.showstart.com/event/46774