Meet Mike Lorenz:
Mike Lorenz, guitarist/composer/bandleader, is an up-and- coming musician from Philadelphia, PA. He leads an original jazz quartet, the Mike Lorenz Quartet, which features some of the most in-demand musicians in the Philadelphia area as well as its surrounding areas.

Instrument(s):
Guitar.

I knew I wanted to be a musician when...
I found I never wanted to put down my guitar.

Your sound and approach to music:
I try to keep an open approach to creating and collaborating in music and a desire to contribute to the whole sound of the group. I try not to have any predetermined notions of how the music should sound or where it should go in the course of a performance. I'd also consider myself pretty easy going so I like to think I'm thoughtful and fun to play music with and be around as well. My sound is, hopefully, an extension of who I am as a person and these ideas.

Favorite venue:
As a working musician I do most of my work playing background at restaurants and bars instead of performing in concert halls or clubs. With that in mind, one of my favorite places to play is Sette Luna in Easton, PA, a wonderful Italian restaurant in the center of town. I play solo guitar there about once a month for their Sunday brunch and am always treated well and have a great time playing tunes for the staff and patrons.

Your favorite recording in your discography and why?
I haven't done a lot of recording but I am very proud of the music I've released on my first CD, Of the Woods. I feel like it is a perfect capture of that period of time in my development as a musician. Other than my own work, I really enjoy the work I've done on recordings by the Doug Hawk Proposition, an original music project in Easton, PA and saxophonist/composer Tony Gairo Tony Gairo
's nonet recordings, which are yet to be released.

The first Jazz album I bought was:
I am not positive but its either a Miles Davis Miles Davis
1926 - 1991
trumpet collection or the Bluebird/RCA version of Art Blakey Art Blakey
1919 - 1990
drums 's A Night in Tunisia.

Did you know...
I am a freelance writer for Drink Philly and the Drink Nation.

CDs you are listening to now:
Tyshawn Sorey Tyshawn Sorey
b.1980
drums , Oblique I (Pi Recordings);
Brad Mehldau Brad Mehldau
b.1970
piano , Lee Konitz Lee Konitz
b.1927
sax, alto , Charlie Haden Charlie Haden
b.1937
bass, acoustic , Paul Motian Paul Motian
1931 - 2011
drums , Live at Birdland (ECM);
Peter Bernstein Peter Bernstein
b.1967
guitar , Larry Goldings Larry Goldings
b.1968
keyboard , Bill Stewart Bill Stewart
b.1966
drums , Live at Smalls (SmallsLive);
Bill McHenry Bill McHenry

saxophone , Ghosts of the Sun (Sunnyside);
Claudia Quintet Claudia Quintet
+ 1, feat. Theo Bleckmann Theo Bleckmann

vocal and Kurt Elling Kurt Elling
b.1967
vocal , What is Beautiful? (Cuneiform).

Desert Island picks:
Kurt Rosenwinkel Kurt Rosenwinkel
b.1970
guitar , The Next Step (Verve);
Bill McHenry, Roses (Sunnyside);
John Coltrane John Coltrane
1926 - 1967
saxophone , A Love Supreme (Impulse!);
Sonny Rollins Sonny Rollins
b.1930
saxophone , The Bridge (Bluebird/RCA);
Ornette Coleman Ornette Coleman
b.1930
sax, alto , The Shape of Jazz to Come (Atlantic).

What is in the near future?
In the near future I hope to continue working on promoting and performing the music from my new release, Of the Woods, whenever I have the opportunity.

By Day:
I teach guitar lessons at Community Conservatory in Doylestown, PA and the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia.

Photo Credit
Courtesy of Mike Lorenz Mike Lorenz
b.1984
guitar

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