Michael Patrick Dease (born August 25, 1982) is an American jazz tenor and bass trombonist, composer and producer. He also plays

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though som ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Biography

Michael Dease was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Geor ...

and attended John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet High School, where he studied saxophone and voice. During his time as a high school student he achieved all-state honors on the latter instrument for three years in a row. At age 17, Michael taught himself to play trombone, and was soon invited to join the inaugural class of the

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

jazz studies program by

Wycliffe Gordon Wycliffe A. Gordon (born May 29, 1967) is an American jazz trombonist, arranger, composer, band leader, and music educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. Gordon also sings and plays didgeridoo, trumpet, soprano trombone, tuba, and piano ...

. Dease would go on to earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees while at the school. His teachers included

Steve Turre Stephen Johnson Turre (born September 12, 1948, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American jazz trombonist and a pioneer of using seashells as instruments, a composer, arranger, and educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. For years, Turre has be ...

Vincent Gardner Vincent Gardner (born October 31, 1972) is an American trombonist and composer. Gardner has released six albums on SteepleChase Records and also performs and records in a group with his brother, trumpeter Derrick Gardner. He is the lead trombonis ...

, John Drew and

Joseph Alessi Joseph Norman Alessi (born September 20, 1959) is an American classical trombonist with the New York Philharmonic. Life Joseph Norman Alessi was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended high school in San Rafael, California. His father, also n ...

. While at

, Dease won many awards, including the Frank Rosolino Award, J.J. Johnson Award, the Sammy Nestico Jazz Composers Award, ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award, and the Fish Middleton Jazz Competition. He began his career in

Illinois Jacquet Jean-Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet (October 30, 1922 – July 22, 2004) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, best remembered for his solo on " Flying Home", critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo. Although he was a pioneer of ...

's Big Band in 2002, and has performed as a featured member of the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band,

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

Big Band,

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing style ...

Big Band,

Nicholas Payton Nicholas Payton (born September 26, 1973) is an American trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist. A Grammy Award winner, he is from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is also a prolific and provocative writer who comments on a multitude of subjects, inc ...

Big Band, Jimmy Heath Big Band and the

Charles Tolliver Charles Tolliver (born 1942) is an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and co-founder of Strata East Records. Biography Tolliver was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1942 and moved with his family to New York City when he was 10. During his chi ...

Big Band. Dease also performs with small groups led by

Claudio Roditi Claudio Roditi (May 28, 1946 – January 17, 2020) was a Brazilian jazz trumpeter. In 1966 Claudio was named a trumpet finalist at the International Jazz Competition in Vienna, Austria. While in Vienna, Roditi met Art Farmer, one of his idols, a ...

, Rodney Whitaker,

, and

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...

. In addition to performance, Dease serves and president and producer at his jazz record label, D Clef Records. Dease has toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America. Previous engagements include the Nice Jazz Festival,

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

, Tims Jazz Festival,

Montreal Jazz Festival The Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ( en, Montreal International Jazz Festival) is an annual jazz festival held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Jazz Fest holds the 2004 Guinness World Record as the world's largest jazz fes ...

Toronto Jazz Festival The Toronto Jazz Festival is a jazz event in Toronto which takes place for 10 days in late June through early July. Unlike the Beaches International Jazz Festival, most of the events are indoors and located throughout the downtown core. The hub of ...

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz ...

and the Spoleto Music Festival. He was a guest artist at the International Trombone Festival June 22–25, 2011 at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Dease's album Grace (2010) received excellent reviews from publications such as Jazz Times,

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

and The Guardian (UK). Michael Dease was interviewed by Linus Wyrsch on " The Jazz Hole" fo
breakthruradio.com
in April 2013
Michael Dease Interview by breakthruradio.com

Educator

Dease had conducted master classes and workshops at universities and conservatories around the world, including the University of Costa Rica,

Osaka University , abbreviated as , is a public research university located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is one of Japan's former Imperial Universities and a Designated National University listed as a "Top Type" university in the Top Global University Project. ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

Augusta State University Augusta State University was a public university in Augusta, Georgia. It merged with Georgia Health Sciences University in 2012 to form Georgia Regents University, later known as Augusta University. History Augusta State University was founde ...

Broward College Broward College is a public college in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. It was established in 1959 as part of a move to broaden Florida's two-year colleges. In 2008 it adopted its current name, reflecting that ...

Simpson College Simpson College is a private Methodist liberal arts college in Indianola, Iowa. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has about 1,250 full-time and 300 part-time students. In addition to the Indianola residential campus, Simpso ...

, Scranton University, and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in Charlotte, North Ca ...

. Currently Dease holds the position of Associate Professor of Jazz Trombone at the

College of Music. He has also held similar positions at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body representing more than 170 ...

CUNY The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges and seven prof ...

, and

The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is the second conservatory of The New School. It is located on West 13th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. It was known as The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music before it wa ...

in New York City. Dease performs exclusively on Yamaha Trombones, and plays the YSL-891Z.

Discography

As leader

:*''The Takeover'' (Self-released, 2005) :*''Dease Bones'' (D-Clef, 2007) :*''Clarity'' ( BluesBack Records, 2008) :*''Grace'' (Jazz Legacy Productions, 2010) :*''Coming Home'' (D-Clef, 2013) :*''Relentless'' (

Posi-Tone Posi-Tone Records is an American jazz record label founded by Marc Free, a producer and musician who runs the company with engineer Nick O'Toole. The label's first five albums were issued in 1995. The roster includes trombonist Steve Davis, sax ...

, 2014) :*''Decisions'' (Posi-Tone, 2015) :*''Let's Get Real'' (Spice of Life

apan Apan is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 346.9 km². Overview As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was an important site in the W ...

2015) :*''Father Figure'' (Posi-Tone, 2016) :*''All These Hands'' (Posi-Tone, 2017) :*''Reaching Out'' (Posi-Tone, 2018) :*''Bonafide'' (Posi-Tone, 2018) :*''Never More Here'' (Posi-Tone, 2019) :*''Give It All You Got'' (Posi-Tone, 2021)

As sideman

with Sharel Cassity :*''Relentless'' (Jazz Legacy Productions, 2009) with Matthew Garrison :*''Familiar Places'' (D-Clef, 2010) with

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but a ...

All-Star Big Band :*''I'm BeBoppin' Too'' (

Half Note ''Half Note'' is a live album by saxophonist Clifford Jordan which was recorded in 1974 and first released on the SteepleChase label in 1985.

, 2008) with

:*''Swingin' Live With Illinois Jacquet: His Final Performance'' (Jacquet, 2006) with

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

:*'' As I Am'' (

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG’s record labels in late 2008. It was distributed through the RCA Music Gro ...

, 2007) with

Big Band :*''

The Good Feeling ''The Good Feeling'' is a studio album by the Christian McBride Big Band. It won the Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in 2012. The record was released on via the Mack Avenue label. Background Th ...

'' (

Mack Avenue Mack Avenue Records is an independent record label in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Background Mack Avenue was founded in 1999 by Gretchen Carhartt Valade, a jazz fan and chair of the American apparel company Carhartt. The company is a sponsor ...

, 2011) :*''

Bringin' It ''Bringin' It'' is a studio album by American jazz bassist Christian McBride together with his big band. The record was released on September 22, 2017 via the Mack Avenue label—both on CD and on LP. After ''The Good Feeling'', this is his sec ...

'' (Mack Avenue, 2017) with

:*''Simpatico'' (

Resonance Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscil ...

, 2010) with

Big Band :*''Emperor March: Live at the Blue Note'' (Half Note, 2009)

External links

*Michael Dease's Website: http://www.michaeldease.com *Michael Yamaha Artist: http://www.yamaha.com/artists/michaeldease.html
Michael Dease Interview by breakthruradio.com

References

1.http://www.allmusic.com/artist/michael-dease-p1008210/biography 2.http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/oct/24/michael-dease-grace-review {{DEFAULTSORT:Dease, Michael Living people American jazz trombonists Male trombonists American jazz composers American male jazz composers 1982 births Musicians from Augusta, Georgia 21st-century trombonists 21st-century American male musicians Christian McBride Big Band members Posi-Tone Records artists