Playscape Recordings

About

Critics have called guitarist/composer Michael Musillami “a superior guitarist” (John McDonough, DownBeat), “an adroit and creative musician” (Michael J. West, JazzTimes) and “a fine composer of notable original music” (Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide). For more than 25 years, he has worked extensively as a performer, bandleader/composer and educator. In addition to his flagship trio with Joe Fonda and George Schuller, he has earned critical notice as the leader of groups ranging from duo to octet featuring such prominent collaborators as Cameron Brown, Thomas Chapin, Drew Gress, Mario Pavone, Michael Sarin and Matt Wilson. He is also the longtime Director of Jazz Studies at The Hotchkiss School and founder/director of the esteemed Playscape Recordings label, which has released more than 40 distinctive recordings over the past decade.

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Booking

COMPANY OF HEAVEN
Andreas Scherrer
523-525 W 152 Street, Suite #51
New York, NY, 10031, USA
email: info@companyofheaven.com
phone & fax = (001)212-281.9785
mobile phone = (001)347-210.9617

Reviews

[Musillami's music] is honest, frequently surprising and consistently exciting.

— Ron Wynn, Jazz Times

...count on Musillami to offer the willing listener something a bit different than the tried and true.

— Glenn Astarita, All Music Guide

Musillami commands attention, not with force, but with sophistication and understatement.

— Bill Donaldson, Cadence

One of the more imaginative guitarists in jazz and one who's put out more than his fair share of worthwhile recordings, Musillami is not as well-known as he should be. He's also a player who has shown a progression with each album he's put out.

— Robert Ianpollo, Signal to Noise

Quietly, while many people have been distracted by flashier and/or better promoted guitarists, journeyman Michael Musillami has gone his own way and become a distinctive, exemplary stylist.

— Ken Waxman, Jazz Weekly

With every new project, Musillami asserts himself as one of the premier modern jazz guitar players on the current scene...an original voice on an instrument lacking in original thinking these days.

— Michael G. Nastos, WEMU-FM

Musillami seemingly cannot play a cliché lick on the guitar — he doesn't so much 'play guitar' as he makes music on an instrument that just happens to be an electric guitar.

— Seth Rogovoy, Berkshire Eagle

The group is led by Michael Musillami whose guitar playing and impeccable production work as owner/manager of Playscape Records have him earned acclaim in many of today's leading jazz journals. Musillami's attention to musical ability and the chemistry of ensemble members allows him to consistently align himself with musicians who can tastefully interpret his repertoire while still putting their own stamp on it.

— Brattleboro Reformer

Musillami certainly deserves much more attention as a guitar stylist and composer.

— Nils Jacobson, AllAboutJazz

His clean guitar tone, ability to rise over active rhythm sections or dig deeply into ballads, and often percussive background playing show not only his influences but also his commitment to the overall sound of a group. His own compositions mine not only the fertile vein of classic jazz but the outer reaches of creative music.

— Richard Kamins, Hartford Courant

Why Musillami, a critical favorite, continues to fly under mainstream radar is anyone's guess. Possessing a rich, hollow-body tone and lightning-quick, angular phrasing, his singular aesthetic charts a serpentine course from Grant Green to Joe Morris. His writing blends pithy melodies and intricate arrangements with magnanimous group interplay and adventurous improvisations that are among the finest new music can offer.

— Troy Collins, AllAboutJazz.com

Musillami is a refreshingly swinging outcat who plays long lines with angular intervals with lyricism and intelligence...

— Paul de Barros, DownBeat

Musillami is a superior guitarist with a fine, fluent sound that mixes both chords and linear lines.

— John McDonough, DownBeat

A Modern-Day Jazz Master

— Roger Levesque, Edmonton Journal

Discography

Flight of Evangeline

Michael Musillami, Rich Syracuse & Jeff Siegel

09.16.2022

Pictures