And whenever he plays, I can tell that the other musicians are excited to have him there. I can understand why. Mike Malone’s career as a performer stretches back decades (while taking the photo above, Mike told us a story about a photo-shoot for a luggage company ad in Esquire magazine that he did before playing at Carnegie Hall with Lighthouse, that featured them all jumping over a pile of suitcases. I am still scouring the internet for this photo), but I think at least part of the admiration from his fellow musicians comes from his work as an educator.

We’re thrilled to welcome him to this year’s festival as the 2016 Smordin Law Artist-in-Residence! Mike has years of experience teaching as a faculty member for the music program at Mohawk College, so his positive impact on jazz in Hamilton extends far far beyond his own playing. Mike’s first show at the 2016 festival will be at Artword Artbar on October 30th alongside Adrean Farrugia on piano and Bob Shields on guitar. Beyond the nice connection to last year’s festival (Adrean was the 2015 Artist-in-Residence), I’m excited for this concert because I love hearing all three of these players in small group settings. They are all highly skilled and highly sensitive musicians who thrive in setting with plenty of space for close listening and interaction.

Steel city jazz festival 2016 lineup