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About Michael Musillami

Album Review

Michael Musillami Trio + 2: Life Anthem

Read "Life Anthem" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
June 20, 2018

One day in June 2016, guitarist Michael Musillami woke up with a massive headache. Tests soon revealed that he had a brain hemorrhage and also an unrelated brain tumour. He slowly recovered from his illnesses and is now in good health. Life Anthem is his musical testament to his ordeal, realized in this recording by his long-standing trio with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller plus guests Kirk Knuffke and Scott Robinson. The music, structured as a ...

Album Review

Michael Musillami: Life Anthem

Read "Life Anthem" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
May 31, 2018

Guitarist Michael Musillami has been making music with his MM Trio since 2002, when he first teamed up with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer George Schuller for Beijing (Playscape, 2003). Subsequent albums, all for the Playscape label Musillami founded and continues to run, have sometimes involved just the trio, while others have brought in guests--standout players such as Peter Madsen, Tom Christensen and Dave Ballou (on 2005's Dachau) and Marty Ehrlich, Ralph Alessi and Matt Moran (on 2009's From Seeds). ...

Album Review

Michael Musillami: Life Anthem

Read "Life Anthem" reviewed by Don Phipps

by Don Phipps
April 14, 2018

Dark, cerebral, moody, Michael Musillami's Life Anthem was inspired by his near-death experience from a brain hemorrhage and tumor. The music takes the listener on a journey from medical crisis to recovery. While the quality of abstract lyricism, improvisation, and musicianship cannot be denied, the music's harsh landscape proves at times frustrating and difficult to navigate. After 15 years of playing together, the talented Musillami and the rest of the trio (Joe Fonda on bass and George Schuller ...

Album Review

Michael Musillami/Rich Syracuse: Of The Night

Read "Of The Night" reviewed by Budd Kopman

by Budd Kopman
October 30, 2016

For some reason, Wayne Shorter is in the air, as evidenced by pianist Denny Zeitlin's wonderful Early Wayne and now guitarist Michael Musillami's duo album with bassist Rich Syracuse, Of The Night. As stated in the earlier review, Shorter tunes, for the most part, are almost immediately recognizable as such without being able to be (accurately) sung. Shorter's melodic, harmonic and rhythmic choices create a Shorter style that is very strong without being easily definable. However, ...

Album Review

Michael Musillami, Rich Syracuse: Of The Night

Read "Of The Night" reviewed by Maurizio Comandini

by Maurizio Comandini
October 6, 2016

Il chitarrista americano Michael Musillami, attivo da oltre 25 anni sulla scena del jazz d'avanguardia, è una figura piuttosto defilata che spesso privilegia situazioni raccolte e visionarie da condividere con partner scelti con cura e attenzione per poi accendere con loro una conversazione a due o tre voci. Normalmente nei suoi album troviamo composizioni originali. Questa volta Musillami ha scelto di omaggiare il celebre saxofonista Wayne Shorter, interpretando sette suoi brani, con la preziosa collaborazione del contrabbassista Rich Syracuse, un ...

Album Review

Michael Musillami/Rich Syracuse: Of The Night

Read "Of The Night" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
August 28, 2016

It would be hard to name an artist who has written more jazz standards than saxophonist Wayne Shorter, someone who has been penning memorable tunes since his days with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the very early sixties. After his stint with Blakey, he contributed his singular song crafting acumen to Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet in the same decade, as well as recording numerous albums under his own name on Blue Note Records during that time. Now, the year ...

Album Review

Michael Musillami: Pride

Read "Pride" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
January 12, 2015

Metà in studio (novembre 2013) e metà dal vivo (2007), questo doppio CD offre uno spaccato alquanto eloquente delle potenzialità del chitarrista Michael Musillami (tutte sue le composizioni) e del suo ormai rodatissimo trio (numerose le incisioni già realizzate), che ospita ora il pianoforte di Kris Davis (e in due brani anche il sax tenore di Jimmy Greene), ora il violino di Mark Feldman. Diciamo subito che è decisamente quest'ultima la formazione che si fa preferire, proprio grazie ...