 He is the son of Lise (Silverman) and Marvin Wolff, a medical doctor, who treated Elvis Presley when the Wolffs' settled in Memphis, Tennessee.At age nine, his family moved to Berkeley, California, and Michael began studying classical piano at age eight before playing drums at age 12.While attending Berkeley High School, Wolff began playing piano with the University of California Jazz Ensembles under the direction of Dr. David W. Tucker.