A South Bay native, Michelle Pollace [poh-LAH-chi] has embraced many musical
styles over her career; her performance and recording
credits include orchestra member in Lou Harrison’s
internationally renowned Gamelan Si Betty (Indonesian
orchestra), keyboardist for Chepito Areas (Santana’s
original percussionist/arranger), co-leader of blues-rock
band featuring Robbie Hoddinott (Kingfish, Bob
Weir), chorus member in a Gilbert & Sullivan theater
company, bassist for a grunge band, and more. Michelle began
her musical journey as mostly self-taught, inspired to make
music with any instrument she came upon. She began writing
songs at age 11, before taking formal piano lessons in her
teens. She preferred playing by ear, however, also picking
up bass and guitar during that time. Once she became smitten
with jazz in her later teens, she delved into formal
instruction in earnest; besides studying classical and jazz
piano (through SJSU and privately with Martan
Mann), she has studied Latin piano/arranging
(privately with Rebeca Mauleon) and Latin percussion
(with Dan Sabanovich).
With Michelle Pollace's Latin Jazz, she expresses her love
of both jazz and Latin rhythms, inspired particularly by the
small piano-centric combos of Michel Camilo, Hilton Ruiz,
and, in his explorations of Latin jazz, McCoy Tyner. Her
love of melody and affinity for well-structured compositions
creates a classic sound, of which critic Mark Tucker of Folk
& Acoustic Music Exchange writes, “I’m highly
reminded of Ahmad Jamal’s ... and others’ old canons of
work.” Her arrangements of jazz, Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban
standards are original, and her own compositions honor the
roots of the music while adding a new voice. Her latest CD,
New Beginning (April 2013), has garnered accolades as well as airplay on
around 200 satellite, public, and college radio stations,
plus made the “most added releases” list in JazzWeek and
the 2014 Grammys ballot. The CD features some of the
San Francisco Bay Area's top-call musicians -- producer Rebeca
Mauleon; David Belove on bass; Phil
Hawkins on drums; Carlos Caro and Michaelle
Goerlitz on percussion; and
saxophonist Kristen Strom. Listen to excerpts
and purchase the CD here.
Before launching her piano-based band, Michelle co-led Zarate
Pollace Project (ZPP) with guitarist Abel Zarate
(who also wrote hit songs for Malo and Willie
Bobo). ZPP enlisted the musical contributions of many Bay
Area luminaries, including John Santos, Paul
VanWageningen, David Belove, Michael Spiro, Curtis Ohlson,
and others to realize the blend of jazz, fusion,
Brazilian, and Afro-Cuban styles comprising ZPP's
music. ZPP released the CD "Soul Redemption"
(2005), which garnered worldwide radio airplay and
favorable reviews. Listen to excerpts
and purchase the CD here.
The Michelle Pollace Latin Jazz band plays a variety of venues, from the quieter restaurant environments to the vibrant stages of outdoor festivals. Michelle draws on top-drawer Bay Area talent to meet the energy and budget for any event.