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MUSIC - Michael Karr - Trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer

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Michael is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and is a formally trained, award winning, trumpet player, keyboardist, composer, arranger, lyricist, engineer and producer and has been featured on close to 40 albums.

During his career Michael has performed with a grand cast of musicians, some of which are The Whispers, The O'Jays, Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band, After 7, Billy Joel, The Human League, Jimmy Ponder, The Tommy Dorsey Band, Modern Man, The Jets, The Gap Band, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, The Drifters, George Benson (in the line-up at the Newport Jazz Festival), Houston Person, Roy Buchanan, Maynard Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard, Dennis Williams, B.B. King, Mary Wilson, Stanley Turrentine and many more.

Michael is a veteran session musician, signed under numerous labels. As a producer, Michael hit the Top Ten on Billboard's R&B charts with the Stanley Fields cover of " You, Me & He" (3C Records). He was the first musician to record live for WDUQ's Tony Mowad and Chuck Leavens in Pittsburgh, PA. He has worked with many production, mixing, mastering and engineers of note, including the Grammy-winning Phil Nicolo of Studio 4 Recording.

Michael's band, Michael's Karrtet features a rotation of top musicians including Ron Affif, Victor Jones, John Benitez, Randy Johnston, Alex Blake and Essiet O. Essiet.

As a band leader, Michael is listed as a Jazz Improv Magazine "Noteworthy Performance". Over the years, he has held several residencies at notable jazz venues in NYC. ~ Intro content excerpted form Michael's Bio

Michael on Reverbnation

BIO EXCERPT:

Michael Karr is a formally trained, award winning, critically acclaimed trumpet player, skilled keyboardist, composer, arranger, lyricist, engineer and producer and has been featured on close to 40 records. After losing a lifetime of work and memories in a fire, Michael is reestablished in his new Greenwich Village studio, recording and producing several original projects.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Michael's debut in music came at age 11, recording his first two albums as a trumpet soloist with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony. In the 9th grade, Michael caught the eye of the great Randy Purcell (lead trombonist with Maynard Ferguson) who assisted Michael is getting a music scholarship for trumpet and piano to Carnegie Mellon University, which he began the following year. He continued his education at Duquesne and Pitt Universities, where he played under the direction of Nathan Davis and his Pitt University Jazz Assemble. After completing two Bachelor Degrees by age 19, Michael left Pittsburgh and went on the road, touring across the United States and in Europe.

Michael's extensive performance experience includes national tours and playing with The Whispers, The O'Jays, Billy Price and the Keystone Rhythm Band, After 7, Billy Joel, The Human League, Jimmy Ponder, The Tommy Dorsey Band, Modern Man, The Jets, The Gap Band, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, The Drifters, George Benson (in the line-up at the Newport Jazz Festival), Houston Person, Roy Buchanan, Maynard Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard, Dennis Williams, B.B. King, Mary Wilson, Stanley Turrentine, Russ Freeman, Alex Blake, Arnie Lawrence, Cecil Brooks III, Dave Budway, Eddie Henderson, Dennis Irwin, Joe Harris, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Eric Lewis, Essiet O. Essiet, Grady Tate, Grover Washington Jr., James Moody, Jay and Marty Ashby, Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Joe Cohn, Joe Negri, John Benitez, Kirk Lightsey, Mark Murphy, Ned Gold, Randy Johnston, Rodney Jones, Ray Brown, Rhoda Scott, Roger Tucker, Roger Humphries, Ron Affif, Russell George and Victor Jones Read full bio

 

REVIEW:

"Michael Karr" -

"Muician Michael Karr is one of those rare instances of humble musical genius. I spoke with Michael over the phone recently to talk with him about what inspired the music from his latest album entitled "Think It Over' on which he is the sole instrumentalist on all cuts with one exception, the vocals sung by the late Izzy Rivera."  ~  Patrick Ross - therhythmiclounge.com