Not only is Michael a teacher and freelance

musician, but he

enjoys cooking during his free time.

Don't let the costume fool you, he is a very

serious fellow indeed!

His mom and dad thought that this kind of

photograph would be a great

keepsake for his later years.

What style!!!

As the years progressed, Michael began to play

numerous woodwind instruments while in

Louisiana and later in and around

New York, Connecticut, and Massachussetts.

After finishing his master's degree in

Bassoon Performance from the Yale School of Music,

he began to teach at

Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Connecticut.

The 80's were a challenging time for

Michael's hair, but look at that hand position!

"Mr. Harris"

Jon Brion has been a friend for a very long time. We met in New Haven at the old Elm City Diner on Chapel Street where he was playing piano. I had just finished a job and either he or I approached the other and we ended up blowing together on "Walk Away Rene" or some other such tune. He called me a few years later to work on an album project for a young singer who was working on her first solo recording. That's how I got to work for Aimee Mann the first time. This is from her first album "Whatever" on the Imago label. On this track are Jon's brother Randy on euphonium and his dad, Keith Brion, plays piccolo on the album. This track is my favorite "Mr. Harris." It's track #9 on the album and I play oboe. I played bassoon on a few cuts on the rest of the album so go out and buy it now!! This was recorded at Presence Studio when it was in East Haven, CT and not yet in Westport, CT. This was Jon Russell's first studio and was a hint of the great things to happen in Westport.

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

I was at home in New Haven, CT one afternoon when I got a call from Jon Brion. Long story short, he needed some studio work and it had to be done in 24 hours. Jon Russell was booked in Westport and all I had to do was figure out the notes from an mp3 track that was going to be emailed to me. So I imported the mp3 into Finale and got two tracks of the following: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon! The notes were garbled and there was a tag line of "Eternal Sunshine" on the track. This track is the "train sequence" from the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." It is where Jim Carey is hit on by a girl in the train car. Did I make it to the movie? I have no idea since the recording session went right up to the time the courier came to pick it up to get to L.A. I had a blast even if it didn't make it to the film. You can hear from these "untweaked" tracks the raw mix and even the click track from my headphones in the silence. Jon Russell is recording me into the Fairlight in his small studio B. The dead spots are for the dialogue in the movie.

"Build That Wall"

From the same session for Aimee Mann way back in East Haven, the track "Build That Wall" was recorded. It didn't make it to Aimee's first album, but it did make it to the movie "Magnolia." This is track #3 from that movie soundtrack. I'm listed as playing oboe, but sometimes these things get a bit mixed up. I'm absolutely playing bassoon on this. It's one of those rare moments when I get to play high D (above the high C in the Rite of Spring!) on a pop tune. As in all of these recording sessions, the "parts" that I played were all created in the studio and it was remarkably fun and difficult. We likend it to being under the microscope during the whole session. That last note was fun as I managed to keep it going through the whole fade out!

"On The Bound"

Fiona Apple is an artist that I've not yet met, but Jon once again asked me to join forces with him on a project for her album "When the Pawn..." on the Epic label. For this session I brought: clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, trumpet, flugel horn, trombone, and piccolo. I ended up using all of the instruments for something on the album. Did it all make it to the album you ask? NO! In the mix, things get lost and buried inside the sonic landscape. For instance, in the track here "On The Bound," there was a very cool sounding "Steely Dan" horn section that was eliminated in part and the woodwind weirdness at about 3:29 is all that remains. I am on "Paper Bag" and "Fast As You Can" on this album. Anyone who saw Fiona's live show and remembers the "distortion guitar" sounds after the show ended, that was me on clarinet in the studio with really wild effects by Jon Brion!

"A Quiet Storm"

The Sonny Costanzo Orchestra was based in New Haven, CT and was lead by the great trombonist himself. There was a recording session for Marlene VerPlanck in NYC at Hip Pocket Studios and I was called to work the session for just the bassoon parts. When I got there, the poor guy playing baritone sax and bass clarinet was not able to cut the parts and I was asked to dub in his parts for the tracks that had already been laid down during lunch. I did it and even got a bite to eat - thanks to Sal Libro and John Mastroianni! This is the title cut "A Quiet Storm" that was arranged and conducted by Billy VerPlanck. On this session were Jim McNeely on piano, Sherri Maricle on mallet percussion along with the "regulars" from the big band.

"Summer Song"

This was a project that I worked on for my technology in music education class this past summer. I used bass, piano and drum tracks that are loops in GarageBand. The trumpets are all me using the internal mic on my MacBook Pro! Yes, there is a high E flat on the top trumpet part - don't ask where that came from! Hope you like the 60's effects - my homage to Bill Chase!

"That's Juss Crazy"

This is a piece I created using more loops, but wanted to use trombone, trumpet and alto for a different kind of sound. When I showed this program to Reggie, my other half, he said, "That's juss crazy!!" I liked the groove and thought it as a soundtrack for an afternoon drive in the country.