Misja Fitzgerald-Michel

Misja Fitzgerald-Michel: Encounter

by John Fidler
August 4, 2006

Misja Fitzgerald-Michel plays guitar with an illuminating brilliance. On his third studio album, the 32-year-old lights the way through eleven numbers: five originals plus compositions by Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane (two apiece), Wayne Shorter and Bill Stewart. That he chose no other guitarists' songs to cover says something about Fitzgerald-Michel's sense of exploration. He avoids the easy route. The leader's trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Rueckert expands to a quartet on two numbers ...