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Mike Melito
Mike Melito hails from Rochester, NY where he keeps an active performance, recording, and teaching schedule. Mike comes from a very musical family and started playing at a very early age. He studied with RPO percussionist John McNeill from 5th grade to 11th grade. He credits McNeill with providing him a strong foundation with the drums and invaluable lessons on music in general. Mike's older brother Tom is also a jazz drummer based in NYC for over 35years. He helped Mike in every aspect of jazz drumming. His father and other brother Chris both play trumpet and played an important role in Mike becoming a musician. They have encouraged him to study hard, listen to the greats and above all be swingin!! Mike names Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Art Taylor, Billy Higgins, Elvin Jones, Jimmy Cobb, and Papa Jo Jones as main influences. Mike started his professional career at age 16 playing with Vibraphonist Joe Locke and saxophonist Joe Romano in his hometown of Rochester. Work then started to snowball for Mike, he started getting calls to play all over upstate NY. He started leading a jam session in the mid-'80s at the now-defunct Rochester jazz room Indigos. He continued to lead many groups in the '90s as well as freelancing. In 1997 he released his first of six critically acclaimed CDs called MY CONCEPTION. From there he started to appear on a lot of CDs as a sideman and in 2001 released his second CD BOUT TIME. His third release, THE NEXT STEP was released in 2005 and garnered much interest overseas. His forth CD IN THE TRADITION 2007, caught the ear of Downbeat magazine and Downbeat wrote an article on Mike. He went on to record two more CD's The Right Time 2008 and NY Connections 2015. His latest CD TO SWING IS THE THING 2023 was one of the most played CD's in the country. Over the years he has gone on to perform and record with names such as James Moody, Barry Harris, Benny Golson, JR Monterose, Phil Flanigan, Harold Danko, Chuck Mangione, Chris Potter, Eric Alexander, John Swana, Peter Bernstein, Steve Davis, Danilo Perez, Cyrus Chestnut, Vincent Herring, David Hazeltine, Harry Allen, Pat LaBarbera and many more. Mike has done many clinics in high school and colleges across the country. He is on the faculty of Eastman Community Music School and continues to maintain a large private teaching practice.
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Mike Melito: To Swing Is The Thing
by David A. Orthmann
A sense of discovery, exhilaration, and depth are not qualities often induced by recent jazz recordings that showcase some of the once innovative, now commonplace styles from the mid-to-late twentieth century. There is no shortage of less-than-stellar releases that land squarely inside the bop/hard bop continuum. One notable exception to the abundance of mere competence is the body of work of drummer Mike Melito. Beginning in the late twentieth century, Melito has led several impressive recording dates ...
Continue ReadingMike Melito: To Swing Is The Thing
by Jack Bowers
The leader of any group whose credo is To Swing Is the Thing had best enlist some hired hands whose propensity to swing is sure and steady, regardless of mood or tempo. Veteran drummer Mike Melito's talented quintet runs that course without breaking a sweat, lending Melito all the help he needs to keep his eighth album as leader bright and swinging from start to finish. Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli and tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart, past masters to ...
Continue ReadingMIke Melito: To Swing Is The Thing
by Pierre Giroux
Rochester NY native Mike Melito is an fine drummer who has been active on the jazz scene for many years. His whose drumming style was inspired by Roy McCurdy, who was an integral part of the jazz groups fronted by both Nat Adderley and Julian “Cannonball" Adderley. With a wide-ride cymbal beat and fluid phrasing, Melito's drumming style shows to full effect on To Swing Is The Thing. Joining him are several standout New York-based musicians including tenor saxophonist Grant ...
Continue ReadingMike Melito/Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
by Jack Bowers
The album cover says “Mike Melito / Dino Losito Quartet." What it does not say is that drummer Melito and pianist Losito have at their beck-and-call an awesome secret weapon, Philadelphia-based tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna, a phenom from the Lester Young school of elegant swinging whose voice on the horn is as debonair and persuasive as any you are likely to hear. It is hard to imagine while listening to McKenna glide easily through cadences from ballad to barn-burner that ...
Continue ReadingThe Mike Melito / Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
by David A. Orthmann
Moderation is a virtue which pervades You're It!, a date co-led by drummer Mike Melito and pianist Dino Losito. It is a pleasure--and a relief—to hear a bop-influenced recording in which jazzmen (three in their middle years and one octogenarian) transcend influences and forge their own standards of performance. The record is impressive in part because of an absence of frenzied, inelegantly swinging tempos, individuals clamoring for attention, and the vociferous sound of competing egos. Rather than peddling artificial excitement ...
Continue ReadingThe Mike Melito/Dino Losito Quartet: You're It!
by Pierre Giroux
The bold-face names on this release are drummer Mike Melito and pianist Dino Losito. However, the name of the performer treasure is buried in quasi-mice type on the bottom of the front cover, and that is tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna. He is the difference maker. The two principals are from upstate New York and have worked together for many years along with NYC bassist Neal Miner. Their interplay demonstrates a symbiotic relationship and consequently they have a sense ...
Continue ReadingMike Melito: New York Connections
by David A. Orthmann
It's somewhat misleading to summarize Mike Melito's New York Connections by dropping a few names of past masters for credibility's sake, applauding him for preserving the essence of hard bop designs from the 50s and 60s, and emphasizing just how effective he is at forging ties to these avenues of the music. Though all of these factors are germane, they're only a small part of the whole tale. The Rochester, NY area drummer and a band of excellent New York ...
Continue ReadingThe Jazz Session #60: Mike Melito
Source:
All About Jazz
Listen While not a household name, Mike Melito is well known to many jazz musicians , having played with everyone from James Moody and Benny Golson to Joe Locke and Rachel Z. Melito is based in Rochester, NY, and he made the decision early on to stay in his hometown and build his career there. His 2008 album, In The Tradition, features saxophonist Grant Stewart, trumpeter John Swana, bassist Neil Miner, and two fellow Rochesterians pianist Paul Hofmann and guitarist ...
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Photos
Music
Nobody Else But Me
From: MotionBy Mike Melito
Minor League
From: MotionBy Mike Melito
Lotus Blossom
From: MotionBy Mike Melito
Jean De Fleur
From: MotionBy Mike Melito
Brigas Nunca Mais
From: MotionBy Mike Melito
Full House
From: MotionBy Mike Melito
Motion
From: MotionBy Mike Melito
