Justus, Michael

As a teenager, Michael who was born in 1962, first discovered the Beatles and then classical music, and tried to learn to play the piano with Beethoven's sonatas. For a while, he played the double bass in the youth orchestra of the East Westphalian village where he grew up. He also became hooked on jazz after seeing Miles Davis perform at a concert in Münster, where he was studying. Later, he trained in jazz piano at the Frankfurt Music Workshop and immersed himself in the associated music theory.

Michael's idols include Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Russell Ferrante, and Brad Mehldau. His own compositions reflect his transition between the worlds of classical music and jazz. They show influences from composers such as Debussy, Prokofiev, and Bartók, but also from Chick Corea, Don Grolnick, and Michael Wollny. At musicalion, however, he first released a cycle of simple songs “Aus der Alten Welt” (From the Old World), which can be interpreted as a musical journey through Europe.

Michael is married, has a son, and lives in Munich and Stuttgart. He works for a book publisher.