Born in 1963, in Ithaca, New York, Michael has been living and working mainly in Europe, since graduating Magna Cum Laude from Berklee School of Music in 1987, where he studied with George Garzone, Bill Peirce and Gary Burton, among others, Following an Italian and Swiss tour in 1987 with keyboardist Delmar Brown, he settled in Italy, where he has been highly successful as both a live and studio musician, as a composer and as a jazz educator.
During his tenure on the Southern European music scene, Michael has played at numerous jazz festivals and has performed and/or recorded with, among others, Bobby Mcferrin, Jim Hall, Carl Anderson, Tommy Campbell, Peter Erskine, Roberta Gambarini, Marcello Pelletteri, George Garzone, Mike Stern and Kenny Wheeler, as well as with a swathe of important Italian and European artists, such as Stefano Bollani, Sarah Jane Morris, Enrico Rava, Paolo Fresu, Roberto Gatto, Danilo Rea, Franco D’Andrea, and Franco Ambrosetti, to name just a few. He has been guest jazz soloist at several performances with various musicians from the La Scala Orchestra, including 2 highly prestigious concerts in 2010 as one of five La Scala Soloists headlining as Bobby McFerrin’s group.
As a studio musician, Michael has recorded solos on approximately 100 albums/cd’s of every conceivable genre and for a vast array of Italy’s most revered singers, including Mina, Adriano Celentano and Renato Zero. He shares album credits with such musicians as Bob Mintzer, Steve Ferrone, Oscar Cartaya and Bo Diddley. In addition, his saxophone solos were featured on the soundtrack for the ISO dance group’s 1991 performances in Tokyo and at the Rockafeller Center in New York City, written by famed Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi.
The compositions from Michael’s 6 cd’s as leader have been featured numerous times on National Italian Radio Rai3, which has hosted him on many occasions for live performances with his group. His music has also been included on the cd’s accompanying Italy’s two major jazz publications, “Musica Jazz”, and “Jazz Magazine”, both of which have published two-page interviews with Michael during recent years. As a leader, he has organized many tours and played numerous festivals and clubs with his own projects, including a 2002 tour with Brazilian musicians Duduka DaFonseca, Helio Alves, and Nilson Matta. More recently has been performing with Brasilian jazz sensations Nelson Faria and Nelson Veras, and with other jazz groups at festivals and clubs around Italy and Switzerland and in London, including the Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival in Rome with his brasilian band “Tricolor”. Primetime National Italian teleivision channels RAI3 and RAI1 covered his 2005 concerts at the “Casa Del Jazz” in Rome, as well as a 2009 performance at the Blue Note in Milan.
2010 saw Michael in London and Rome, with Sarah Jane Morris and her English band, as well as in several jazz festivals with Tricolor. 2011 will be an incredibly busy year, with Michael releasing 3 different new cd’s. With its first cd, Tricolor has invited numerous special guests, including Nelson Faria, Vana Gierig, Mark Lambert and others, while Michael’s Electric Quartet’s new cd, “Press Escape to Begin”, features guest Randy Brecker on trumpet. A third new cd, with Vana Gierig on piano, will be recorded live during two performances at the “Casa Del Jazz” Auditorium in May. Later that month, Michael will leave Rome for 2 performances in Tel Aviv.
