Mort Weiss

Weiss began clarinet lessons when he was nine years old. After moving with his family to Los Angeles, he continued playing classical music. During his teens he studied with clarinetist Antonio Remondi of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. After graduation and a year at the Westlake School of Music, the teenage Weiss soloed on T.V. programs with the Freddie Martin Orchestra, a.k.a. The Band of Tomorrow.

Weiss' exposure to jazz began with Dixieland. But when he heard a Charlie Parker record, he was hooked. He frequented jazz clubs, participating in after-hours jam sessions, and spending many hours in the woodshed honing his craft. Clarinetist Buddy DeFranco became his idol.

At the age of 19, Weiss was drafted into the Armed Services and played tenor saxophone in the Army band. In the ten years following his discharge, there was a dearth of work for jazz clarinetists and the tenor saxophone became his bread and butter. Weiss' life became lounges, minor jazz clubs, and work in R&B bands.

In the summer of 2001, Weiss read an advertising flyer that asked "Do You Want to Play Jazz?" It was enough to make him begin practicing and invite guitarist Ron Eschete to jam. Their collaboration led to a recording session that became No Place to Hide, the first album on Weiss's label SMS Jazz.

• No Place to Hide (SMS Jazz, 2002)
• Mort Weiss Meets Joey Defrancesco (SMS Jazz, 2002)
• The Mort Weiss Quartet (SMS Jazz, 2002)
• The Four of Us: Live at Steamers (SMS Jazz, 2005)
• All Too Soon (SMS Jazz, 2008)
• Raising the Bar (SMS Jazz, 2009)
• I'll Be Seeing You (SMS Jazz, 2012)