Michael Musillami is a jazz musician who joined the school as a guitar teacher in 1983. He leads the Michael Musillami Trio and conducts, performs, and tours across the United States. He directs the Right Brain Logic jazz ensemble at the school.
How did you end up at the school?
In 1981, I came from California to the East Coast. I played in a jazz organ trio in all the Black clubs up and down the coast. I ended up playing a gig in Lakeville, Connecticut. I’d never been to the place and didn’t even know it existed. But the chair of the music department at the school, Mr. David Sermersheim, a saxophone player and a composer, hired me to play guitar. After the gig, he asked me, “Man, do you teach?” I said, “Well, I’m a jazz musician, and I’ll do whatever it takes to survive.”
There was a great need for some professional instruction for the program at the school, as the previous teacher was inexperienced and the program wasn’t well-structured. So, in 1983, I took on a couple of students. And the next semester, I had a couple of more students. In about a year and a half, I got up to 10 or 12 kids. I was the only guitar teacher at that point. I was teaching 75 classes a week, driving an hour and a half to get here every morning.
What do you do today?
I’m still a jazz guitarist. I make records and tour the world playing the guitar. Once a year, I go to Europe with one of the groups I’m in and tour for two weeks. I’m on the radio everywhere in the world. When I perform out of the state or out of the country, the school supports that as something positive that helps the music program.
I now run the jazz ensemble at school—Right Brain Logic. I write all the music, and I try to help the students learn to improvise, and I teach them about jazz.
What have been some of your favorite things about working at the school?
I have made countless friends and colleagues in this department. They are pro players and teachers. I get to rub shoulders with professional musicians every single day and enjoy live music.
As a 71 year-old man, the kids here keep me young. All the students I have taught are memorable. It brings a tear to my eye when kids show up after 10 years or so, and they have a life behind them. Even after being married with a family, often times they’re still playing music.
Why are you passionate about jazz music?
Music is the vehicle I chose for my expression. I’ve devoted my life to this music and all that it entails. That means practicing every day, four to seven hours. It means traveling; you know, we go to Europe often. It sounds exciting, but it’s really hard. All the places that are interested in jazz music, my trio and I have played there.
What advice would you give to young musicians?
Don’t stop. It’s so easy to quit. We all face it. All musicians don’t feel like practicing, but you have to keep your commitment. My mentor, Joe Diorio, told me that Los Angeles was where the heartbeat of jazz was in the 1970s—he told me, “Go there, and don’t stop. Most people quit; all you gotta do is stay.” Looking back, most of the people I came up with have stopped. Unlike them, I just kept playing jazz music and learned, and eventually you become “the cat.”
