Michael Malis

About Michael

Michael Malis is a composer and pianist based in Detroit, Michigan. Noted for his “jaw dropping display of improvisational power” (All About Jazz), Malis is a multi-faceted artist, performing as a jazz musician, composing for the concert stage, and spearheading multidisciplinary collaborations.

As a recording artist, he has 11 releases as a leader or co-leader. 2022’s From Darkness We Awaken, featuring chamber-improvising ensemble Virago (who commissioned the piece) was released on Brisbane Australia-based Made Now Music. Called “transfixing” with a “disarming intensity” (All About Jazz), it was premiered in an “arresting” and “ambitious” concert at the Detroit Institute of Arts in August 2022 (I Dig Jazz).

As a composer, Malis has been commissioned by Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Virago, Hole in the Floor, and others.

Malis and saxophonist Marcus Elliot join forces as the duo “Balance.” Hailed as “among the most compelling Detroit jazz musicians of their generation,” Elliot and Malis’ “intuitive improvisations” stand on the threshold of composed and improvised music. Their 2022 sophomore album, Conjure, was called “one of the best contemporary jazz records to come out of Detroit in quite some time” (Hour Detroit). In 2019 they devised “I Got to Keep Moving,” a collaborative performance piece with Guggenheim Award-winning author Bill Harris and master drummer Gerald Cleaver, which premiered at the Detroit Public Library.

As a pianist, Malis has shared the stage with a diverse array of musicians, including Marcus Belgrave, Gerald Cleaver, Jaribu Shahid, John Lindberg, William Hooker, A. Spencer Barefield, Tyshawn Sorey, Brandee Younger, J.D. Allen, and Marion Hayden. He has performed at the Yokohama Jazz Promenade (Yokohama, Japan), the Kennedy Center, and The Stone (NYC). His teachers include Geri Allen, Marcus Belgrave, Bess Bonnier, Marion Hayden, and Jon Anderson.