Michael Dease

Michael Dease
Michael Dease
Born	August 25, 1982 (age 42); Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation	Musician
Instrument	Trombone
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Jazz Legacy, Bluesback, D-Clef
Website	www.michaeldease.com

Michael Dease (born August 25, 1982) is an American jazz tenor and bass trombonist, composer and producer. He also plays saxophone, trumpet, flugelhorn, bass and piano.

Biography

Michael Dease was born in Augusta, Georgia 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 jazz studies program by Wycliffe Gordon.^[1]v Dease would go on to earn both his bachelor's and master's degrees while at the school. His teachers included Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Turre, Vincent Gardner, John Drew and Joseph Alessi. While at Juilliard, 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.^[2]

He began his career in Illinois Jacquet's Big Band in 2002, and is currently a featured member of the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Christian McBride Big Band, Roy Hargrove Big Band, Nicholas Payton Big Band, Jimmy Heath Big band and the Charles Tolliver Big Band. Dease also performs with small groups led by Claudio Roditi, Sharel Cassity, and Wycliffe Gordon. In addition to performance, Dease serves and president and producer at his jazz record label, D Clef Records.^[3]

Dease has toured extensively throughout Europe, Latin America and South America. Previous engagements include the Nice Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Tims Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival and the Spoleto Music Festival. He was a guest artist at the International Trombone Festival June 22–25, 2011 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Dease's latest album GRACE (2010) received excellent reviews from publications such as Jazz Times, All About Jazz and The Guardian (UK).^[4]

Michael Dease was interviewed by Linus Wyrsch on "The Jazz Hole" for breakthruradio.com in April 2013 - Michael Dease Interview by breakthruradio.com

Educator

Dease had conducted master classes and workshops at universities and conservatories around the world, including the University of Costa Rica, Osaka University, Michigan State University, Augusta State University, Broward College, Simpson College, Scranton University, and Northeastern University.

Currently Dease holds the position of Assistant Professor of Jazz Trombone at Michigan State University. He has also held similar positions at Queens College, CUNY, and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. Dease performs exclusively on Michael Rath trombones.^[5] His personal instrument is a brass/nickel silver Rath R4.^[6]