“An elegant and sparkling improviser” - 5/5 stars - BBC Music Magazine, May 2021
“A testament to the transformative power of jazz” - 4/5 stars - Jazzwise Magazine, June 2021
“Not to be missed! The New York scene pianist leads a trio playing original music which is modern and daring but remains firmly rooted in the jazz tradition.” – La Repubblica (Italy)
"In an album overflowing with a warm, eclectic blend of jazz joie de vivre and Israeli spirit, Roy Mor has unequivocally arrived at his ‘real thing’" - London Jazz News, May 2021
“Pianist Roy Mor captivated me. Just amazing... beautiful tone and sensibility on the piano. Young pianist possessing plenty of soul!” - Chris Philips, Jazz FM
Originally from Israel, Roy Mor is an international pianist, composer, and arranger, whose music has been described as “modern and daring yet remains firmly rooted in the jazz tradition, cutting seamlessly across many moods” (La Repubblica). His playing has been referred to as both “melodic” and “energetic”, and his compositions as having “a genuine quality that flows seamlessly from his inner voice as a player - strong, evocative, harmonically complex and rhythmically alive” (Jane Ira Bloom).
Roy’s artistic journey illustrates his varied facets and interests: after a stint studying acting, serving as a military paratrooper, and earning a university degree in Philosophy with honors, he left a career as a software engineer with Microsoft to move to New York and pursue his true passion: music.
While in NYC he performed as both a gig leader and sideman at many of the city’s best jazz venues, including Rockwood Music Hall, Smalls Jazz Club and Fat Cat, and collaborated with some of New York’s most acclaimed and up-and-coming artists, including Francisco Mela, Tyshawn Sorey, Henry Cole, John Benitez, Stacy Dillard, Amos Hoffman, Anat Cohen, Jazzmeia Horn, Yotam Silberstein, Jeremy Dutton and Linda Briceño, among others.
Before moving to New York, Roy led his own trio and quartet, wrote music for theatrical productions, played as a pianist with The Israeli Big Band and performed at major festivals in Israel. He also had the privilege of studying and performing with saxophonist and educator Arnie Lawrence at the International Center for Creative Music in Jerusalem.
In New York he had the chance to complete his musical studies at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music under a generous merit scholarship, during which he was placed on the Dean’s List, and had the opportunity to study under the mentorship of renowned jazz masters and some of his personal musical heroes. He also served as a musical producer for concerts at International House NYC where he created unique projects that brought together musicians from different genres and distant parts of the globe. His recordings received regular airplay on Jazz FM Radio and BBC radio, and he won the Eubie Blake Foundation award twice in 2013 and 2014, and has performed his music internationally in Italy, Denmark, Canada, Spain and Cuba.
Since his return to Israel in 2015, Roy has led several groups of musicians playing his compositions which draw from many influences - from hard-bop through classical music to West African styles - and fuses them into what he calls a “biblical sound”, inspired by Israeli multiculturalism and his own Middle-Eastern roots. In addition to original music, Roy’s bands continue to explore new interpretations of Israeli classics and fresh renditions of standards. He leads a trio, quartet and sextet that plays regularly in Israel and internationally.
In the last few years Roy has recorded and performed with celebrated oud and guitar player Amos Hoffman (winner of the Landau Prize for the Arts) and with renowned flutist, Avichai Ornoy, and collaborated on special projects with artists such as Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Ehud Banai, Ester Rada, Shlomo Bar, Alon Oleartchik, Anat Cohen, Ofer Ganor, Ehud Ettun, Noam David, Gregory Rivkin, Yuval Cohen and Gilad Ronen. He has also shared the stage with Esperanza Spalding, Roberto Gatto, Dave Douglas, Ben Wendel, Eli Degibri, Greg Tardy, Tivon Pennicott, Deantoni Parks and others, and completed a residency at the International Workshop in Jazz & Contemporary Music in Banff, Canada.
Together with renowned saxophonist and vocalist Abate Berihun, he formed the “Addis Ken Project” in 2018, a unique world music and Ethio-jazz ensemble that plays deeply spiritual soul music inspired by age-old Jewish-Ethiopian prayers, afrobeat and the blues. The project’s music was recently described as "an encounter between ancient Jewish Ethiopian traditions and the spirit of a modern jazz ensemble, employing musical adventurousness, rich harmonies, and heartfelt blues" and has received acclaim in the press. The group has performed internationally in jazz festivals in Panama, Denmark, Canada and Israel and won the Israeli Ministry of Culture’s highest artistic grant in 2020.
Roy is a recipient of the Eubie Blake Foundation award for 2013 and 2014, and of the Dodge Foundation Grant for 2012, 2013 and 2014. He is a recipient of the Rabinovich Foundation for The Arts award for 2015, and an Outstanding Artist Grant from the Israeli Ministry of Culture in 2016. In 2019, he received an artistic award from Mifal HaPais Council for the Culture and Arts, and a grant from the Ministry of Culture in 2021.
Photos: Nicole Birch, Rodrigo Rodriguez