| Jazz |
Ross Margitza – Discovery: The Soundtrack of the Film You Wish Existed
Close your eyes, press play, and a film begins. That is the first thing I felt when I heard Discovery, the new album by pianist and composer Ross Margitza, and it never left me until the last note. A jazz record that could be the original score of a great love story, or of a dark and elegant detective film, with all the right ingredients: a piano-bass-drums trio, a special guest on soprano saxophone, and, on four of the eight pieces, a shimmering string quartet. It is an album I love.
Everything here is composed and arranged by Ross Margitza, and the casting is perfect. At the heart of the project is his trio with bassist James Suter and drummer Daniel Dufour, flexible, discreet and always in the right place. On top of this foundation comes the Soha Quartet (Mei Liu and Chloe Yofan on violins, Thomas Gougeon on viola, Katsuaki Arakawa on cello), whose strings add emotion, depth and cinematic colour. And, to give the opening a unique glow, the album welcomes a fantastic saxophonist, Joel Frahm, one of the great voices of the instrument, on soprano.
The result blends lyrical melodies, rich harmonies and real improvisation, with the intimacy of chamber music and the freedom of jazz. Each piece tells a story, and that is why the music stays so vivid in the imagination. The pianist describes the record as an invitation to slow down, to listen deeply, and to experience music as a journey. I could not agree more.
The opening scene is the title track, “Discovery”. The strings set the atmosphere, and then comes a long, sublime soprano saxophone solo from Frahm, while the piano stays extremely discreet for more than half of the piece. It is only after about three minutes forty-five that Margitza steps forward with a piano solo that seduces you at once, before the saxophone gently takes its place again. It is a piece worthy of the opening credits of a great film.
On “For Amelie”, the piano begins alone in an almost classical style, and then the bass and drums join in with a hushed, intimate jazz feel, ideal for a love scene or, why not, for a discreet tailing of a suspect by a gifted police inspector. A superb bass solo seems to illustrate the lonely walk of that inspector, who carries on his investigation without wanting to be noticed.
For the next scene, the Soha Quartet returns on “The Wanderer”, making the strings vibrate with strong emotion, as if to accompany a break-up or a reunion, and then the piano opens a window on a sunny spring landscape, where flowers light up a big park. The strings come back for “A Heart Fulfilled”, a love song without words, which confirms the feeling its title promises.
Then the trio takes the stage alone with “June 3rd”: a piece for a select jazz club, where the audience listens with respect and attention, cocktail in hand, and applauds as it should the beautiful double bass solo that appears naturally in the middle of the tune. After it, “For Graham”, for solo piano, lights up a night sequence full of emotion, in which Graham no longer knows whether he should go to meet Amelie or take up his nocturnal surveillance again.
The last two scenes close the loop. “Remembrance”, with the quartet back, is tender and sensitive, a piece about those who have left us and are never forgotten (it is dedicated to a fellow pianist, Steve Richko). And “Huckleberry” ends the film with a swinging groove and a feeling of freedom, the journey of discovery reaching a joyful, open ending, with the leader enjoying every note of his Steinway.
By the end, you no longer know who the star of this film is, nor exactly how it ends, so thoroughly has the music taken you over.
Everything here is composed and arranged by Ross Margitza, the man at the piano. Ross grew up in Detroit, with a father and a grandfather who were both professional pianists, and started piano at six and trumpet at ten. It was Oscar Peterson’s recording of West Side Story that made him choose jazz. Today he lives in Austin, Texas, where he teaches jazz piano at the University of Texas, and he has shared the stage with musicians such as Russell Malone, Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, Christian McBride and Patti Austin, as well as with big bands like the Detroit Jazz Orchestra. First prize at the 2024 Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition confirmed his talent, and he is a Steinway & Sons Artist. You can hear it: the touch is clean and singing, the harmony is rich, and the piano seems, as he says himself, to know already what he wants to say.
The album was recorded in June 2026 at the Butler School of Music studios in Austin, on a Steinway Model D, by Andrew Stoltz, and mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington. The sound is warm and natural, a perfect frame for the piano and for the strings.
Discovery is that rare thing: a jazz album that is as pleasant to listen to as a film is to watch. It works as pure music, and it works as a story in your head, and we would love to see a director seize it. A great album, which we love.
Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
PARIS-MOVE, October 25th, 2026
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Tracklisting:
1. Discovery 6:10 (*)
2. For Amelie 05:09
3. The Wanderer 05:12 (*)
4. A Heart Fulfilled 04:35 (*)
5. June 3rd 05:59
6. For Graham 05:01
7. Remembrance 05:23 (*)
8. Huckleberry 03:26
All selections composed and arranged by Ross Margitza
Musicians:
Ross Margitza – pianist, producer
James Suter – bass
Daniel Dufour – drums
The Soha Quartet:
Mei Liu – violin
Chloe Yofan – violin
Thomas Gougeon – viola
Katsuaki Arakawa – cello
Special guest: Joel Frahm – soprano saxophone
The Soha Quartet performs on (*) Discovery, The Wanderer, A Heart Fulfilled, and Remembrance
Joel Frahm performs on Discovery
James Suter and Daniel Dufour perform on all tracks except For Graham
Credits:
Recorded on June 23rd, 2026 at the Butler School of Music Recording Studios – The University of Texas at Austin
Recording Engineer: Andrew Stoltz
Mixed, edited, and mastered by Dave Darlington
Album artwork by Pierce Horvath
Ross Margitza is a Steinway & Sons Piano Artist and records exclusively on Steinway pianos
This project was recorded using a Steinway Model D piano
This project is funded in part by the Pathways To Jazz grant, a donor advised fund of the Boulder Country Arts Alliance