BIOGRAPHY

Mike has played trombone since middle school in Ontario, Canada. He took private lessons at university and continued to play in various orchestras, small ensembles and big bands while studying in Canada, France and the UK before locating to the SF Bay Area.

In Toronto, he played with Swing Shift Big Band for nearly 15 years, making multiple recordings, including “Alive and Swingin’” and “One More, Twice”.

While pursuing a career in tech, Mike has moved to the SF Bay Area twice. In the early 2000’s a number of lessons with John Gove sparked his interest in improvisation, but family and career got in the way. Since moving back in 2017, he has devoted his time to improvisation, taking classes at the College of San Mateo and studying with Patrick Wolff.

In the Bay Area, he has played with numerous groups including the Warehouse Big Band with Louie Bellson, Ed Morrison and A Touch of Brass, the Michael Galisatus Big Band, the Stanford Jazz Workshops Alumni Band (Ray Brown), Full Spectrum and others. Mike has two kids and a very, very supportive wife.