Michael Musillami launched his professional path as a respected straight-ahead mainstream jazz guitarist yet gradually emerged as a singular voice within the creative improvisers community, where his work as a composer stands out most clearly. Born in Sacramento, CA, on July 28, 1953, he grew up with parents who encouraged his developing abilities even though neither played music. Rock initially drew him because of the electric, amplified nature of his instrument, yet his earliest jazz influences included Chet Baker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Bill Evans. He spent two years at American River College pursuing anthropology before studying guitar in Compton with Joe Diorio in 1979 and then moving east during the early 1980s. In 1982 he studied with John Mehegan in Westport, CT, and later worked with Ted Dunbar in Camden, NJ. His professional engagements at that time centered on organ combos alongside Richard “Groove” Holmes, Bobby Buster, and others. Sideman appearances also placed him with Junior Cook, Dewey Redman, and Curtis Fuller, while regular performances at the Hillside Club in Waterbury, CT, brought him into contact with more progressive figures such as Thomas Chapin and Mario Pavone. After issuing several albums on independent labels, beginning with The Young Child on Stash Records in 1990 and Glass Art on Evidence in 1992, Musillami established the Playscape imprint in 1999. The label gave him greater control over original projects featuring chosen collaborators that included Peter Madsen, Drew Gress, Matt Wilson, Joe Fonda, and George Schuller. Playscape has since released more than forty CDs spanning creative progressive and modern mainstream jazz, roughly a dozen of them led by the guitarist himself. Beyond his recording and performance activities, Musillami has served for many years as director of jazz studies at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT.
