Michael Patrick Dease (born August 25, 1982) is an American jazz tenor and

bass trombonist The bass trombone (, ) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to facilitate low register playing, and u ...

, composer and producer. He also plays

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

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

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 ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Biography

Michael Dease was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

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. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

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 Conch (instrument), seashells as instruments, a composer, arranger, and educator at the collegiate-conservatory level. For ...

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 tromboni ...

, John Drew and Joseph Alessi. 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. He is also known as one of the w ...

'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 400 recordings as a sideman, and is a nine-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of jaz ...

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 critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

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 writer who comments on subjects including music, race, politics, and life i ...

Big Band,

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath w ...

Big Band and the

Charles Tolliver Charles Tolliver (born March 6, 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. Durin ...

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, an ...

Rodney Whitaker Rodney Whitaker (born February 22, 1968) is an American jazz double bass player and educator. Biography Born in Detroit, Whitaker attended Wayne State University, and studied with Robert Gladstone, principal bass with the Detroit Symphony Orches ...

, and

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...

. 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 Nice Jazz Fest (previously the Nice Jazz Festival), is an annual jazz festival first held in 1948 in Nice, on the French Riviera. After not running for several decades, it has been held annually since 1974. History After first being held in 194 ...

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is a festival held annually on the second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. The festival moved to Rotterdam in 2006 after the demolition of the Statenhal in The Hague where it was originally held. ...

Tims Jazz Festival TIMS is a four-letter combination that may refer to: * Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Hyderabad, Telangana, India * Telecommunication Instructional Modeling System, aka Emona TIMS, an electronic device for telecommunicati ...

Montreal Jazz Festival The Festival international de Jazz de Montréal 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 festival. Every year it features roughly 3,000 ar ...

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. Like the Beaches International Jazz Festival, most of the events are outdoors and located throughout the downtown core. The hub of th ...

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 university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

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

Jazz Times ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

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" for in April 2013 -

Educator

Dease had conducted master classes and workshops at universities and conservatories around the world, including the

University of Costa Rica The University of Costa Rica (Spanish: ''Universidad de Costa Rica,'' abbreviated UCR) is a public university in the Republic of Costa Rica, in Central America. Its main campus, Ciudad Universitaria Rodrigo Facio, is located in San Pedro Mo ...

Osaka University The , abbreviated as UOsaka or , is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university in Osaka, Japan. The university traces its roots back to Edo period, Edo-era institutions Tekijuku (1838) and Kaitokudō, Kaitokudo (1724), ...

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

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 founded ...

Broward College Broward College is a public college based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Miramar, Florida, Pembroke Pines, Florida and Davie, Florida. It is a member of the Florida College System, and offers several associate and baccalaureate degree programs. H ...

Simpson College Simpson College is a Private college, private United Methodist Church, Methodist college in Indianola, Iowa. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and enrolled 1,151 students in ...

, Scranton University, and

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

. 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 New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

CUNY The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

, and

The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is a Private university, private music school of The New School in New York City. It is located on 13th Street (Manhattan), West 13th Street in the neighborhood of Greenwich Village. It was once known ...

in New York City. Dease performs exclusively on

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

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, 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-Twin Towns-sister Cities As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was a ...

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) :*''Best Next Thing'' (Posi-Tone, 2022) :*''The Other Shoe: The Music of Greg Hill'' (Origin Records, 2023)

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 improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

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

Half Note In music, a half note (American) or minim (British) is a Musical note, note played for half the duration of a whole note (or semibreve) and twice the duration of a quarter note (or crotchet). It was given its Latin name (''minima'', meaning "le ...

, 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 and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

:*'' 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 at the end of their merger. It was distribut ...

, 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 ...

'' (

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'' (Mack Avenue, 2017) with

:*''Simpatico'' (

Resonance Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when an object or system is subjected to an external force or vibration whose frequency matches a resonant frequency (or resonance frequency) of the system, defined as a frequency that generates a maximu ...

, 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 *

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 American male trombonists 21st-century American jazz composers American male jazz composers 1982 births Musicians from Augusta, Georgia 21st-century American trombonists 21st-century American male musicians Christian McBride Big Band members Posi-Tone Records artists