Michael plays saxophones, clarinet, and flute. While earning a bachelor’s degree in Afro-Am Music from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he recieved minor in music theory. Michael also went to the University of North Texas and studied classical and jazz saxophone. Michael studied under Yusef Lateef, Jeff Holmes, Chris Mertz and Adam Kolker. He later took lessons with Ravi Coltrane and George Garzone.

He toured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, performed with Phil woods and Bjorkesra. Michael has played on cruise ships in: Italy, France, Spain, Morrocco, Tunisia, Central America and the Caribbean. He has performed with The Platters, The Crystals and Jon 'Bouzer' Bowman.

After teaching at the Deerfield Academy Summer Arts Camp he taught, in Boston, at Powers Music School for four years. He moved to New York in the Fall, lives in Brooklyn and plays jazz and show music. See the Schedule for more information.

I was born in Denver, Colorado, and moved to Northborough, Massachusetts, when I was four. My first exposure to music was through TV and radio, but the music that made the strongest impression on me was the music that my family listened to and that I saw live. My father sang in a college a cappella choir called the Yale Whiffenpoofs. He would play their records for my three older brothers and me as we were growing up. At the same time that I was introduced to a cappella music, my brothers were “laying the new stuff on me”: Kiss, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Twisted Sister, and some other cutting edge “metal” bands that were big in the early eighties. Somehow I seemed to prefer listening to U2, The Kinks, and David Byrne. In addition, my uncle Michael Devlin is a bass baritone opera singer in New York at the Metropolitan Opera. While I didn’t listen to opera as a kid, my uncle’s professional involvement with music showed me that being a professional musician was possible. These are some of my early experiences with music. Some exciting live performances and inspiring teachers also played a role for me at a young age.

After a few months of piano lessons in fourth grade, I decided to take up alto saxophone and added tenor in sixth. I had heard my neighbor playing sax along with a Charlie Parker recording. At the time I didn’t know what the music was, but I knew the instrument was a saxophone. I ended up taking saxophone lessons with him, and he taught me improvisation. Musically, this was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Not long after that, my dad gave me the Sonny Stitt recording Soul Girl. This was the first recording that inspired me to really practice. I also started tinkering around with playing a clarinet my brother bought at a yard sale for $25. Little did I know that hearing clarinetist Eddie Daniels’ album Breakthrough would later motivate me to take clarinet more seriously.

As I became involved with my school music program, I was lucky enough to have teachers that went out of their way to show me music that wasn’t being taught in school regularly. I bought more albums, like The Best of Sonny Rollins, Michael Brecker’s Steps Ahead, and Talking Heads’ Little Creatures. Through this I discovered new styles of music and the versatility of the instruments that I played. After attending live Count Basie Orchestra performances in Worcester, Mass, in ’89 and ’90, I knew that I wanted to play for a living.

Live music has always made the greatest impression on me. For seven consecutive years a jazz band made up of local musicians Emil Haddad, Dick Odgren, and Joe and Mark Holovnia (local favorites in Worcester, MA) would perform at a restaurant in my hometown. I started to go in high school and eventually was invited to sit in and play. Dick had been a teacher at Berklee College of Music in Boston and was naturally encouraging of young musicians. Emil played in the big band era and was happy to see a young person into this kind of music. This was a chance for me to hear tunes like Joy Spring by Clifford Brown and Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson live, before I’d even had a chance to hear the original famous recordings. It took me years to realize how unique these people and this situation were.

In high school I drove in to Ball Square in Somerville and heard an avant-garde jazz trio The Fringe, made up of George Garzone, Bob Gullotti, and John Lockwood. Hearing these guys improvise as a group using any and all ideas and instruments changed the way I looked at jazz and listened to all music.

By my junior year in high school, I knew I wanted to major in music. I studied at the University of North Texas and at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. I was introduced to classical saxophone by Lynn Klock at UMass. Through this I developed basic technique on the saxophone, improved my intonation, and developed an appreciation for twentieth-century atonal music. I studied jazz saxophone with such musicians as Yusef Lateef, Chris Mertz, Adam Kolker, and Jeff Holmes. It was in Amherst that I also met bassist Tim Dahl, pianist Alex Marcello, trumpeter Brian Koning, and saxophonists Dave Loy Song, Nathan Childers, Dave Pope, and Brian Sacawa. Brian Koning and Alex I currently play with, and I was really inspired by the energy and humor of Tim Dahl, who is now in Brooklyn. After graduation I traveled for six months with the Tommy Dorsey Band directed by Buddy Morrow. I then worked on a Holland America cruise ship playing clarinet, flute, and saxophones. There I had the chance to play some jazz and rock as well as to perform in a back-up band for the Platters, the Crystals, and Bobby Rydell.

After the cruise, I taught music in the elementary schools of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. While there I traveled up to North Adams to visit the Mass MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art). This was my first trip to a museum of contemporary art, and it was truly a mind-expanding experience. The visit made me realize the importance of cutting edge art and its power to force your mind to grow. I highly recommend the Boston ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art) for those interested in a similar experience. That summer was also the first of two consecutive summers that I served as an arts counselor at the Deerfield Academy Summer Arts Camp. I taught painting, drawing, and music to kids between the ages of 11 and 17.

I now live in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve played a production of 42nd Street and with the wedding band Moment’s Notice. I am teaching one-on-one music lessons, in the East Village, for First Flight Music and at the Music School of Westchester. I also teach recorder to first graders and band to fifth graders in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

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