Mikael
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Bluesman's Odyssey: www.mikesantana.com
Male
51 years old
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
United States
Last Login: 7/14/2009
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Mikael's Interests
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| General | Music, Art Deco, Vintage Aviation, the sengoku-jidai. | | Music | Primarily Blues and Jazz; but I also love Rock-a-Billy, Swing (love to Swing dance!), Latin (would love to learn Latin dancing!), anything with good vocal harmonies (Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, old Beach Boys, Byrds, CSN, etc.)
| | Movies | Anything good... but my favorites tend to run towards the older ones... anything in Black and White will immediately grab my attention.
| | Television | The Sopranos. All the rest of it taxes my patience to the extreme. | | Books | My favorite book is "Wind, Sand, and Stars" by Antoine de Saint Exupery. I also love the works of P.G. Wodehouse, H.P. Lovecraft, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ian Fleming, Sax Rohmer, and biographies... especially of musicians. | | Heroes | Toshiro Mifune, Little Walter Jacobs, Howlin' Wolf, Carl Perkins, John Wayne, Anthony Fokker, Antoine de Saint Exupery, Sonny Boy Williamson, William Clarke... |
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. . . action!, Whole Wheat Radio, I play harmonica and I rule!
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Mikael's Details
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| Status: | Engaged | | Here for: | Networking, Friends | | Orientation: | Straight | | Hometown: | Memphis, Tn. | | Body type: | 5' 10" / Athletic | | Ethnicity: | White / Caucasian | | Religion: | Christian - other | | Zodiac Sign: | Capricorn | | Smoke / Drink: | No / Yes | | Education: | College graduate | | Occupation: | Lab Tech |
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Mikael's Latest Blog Entry
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Mr Mister - Kyrie Live!
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New York Voices at Nighttown (Cleveland, Ohio)
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Steely Dan - The Caves of Altamira
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Muddy Waters - Can't Get No Grindin'
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Big Walter 'Shakey' Horton - Shakey's Blues (1965)
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| [View All Blog Entries] |
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Mikael's Blurbs |
About me:
At the relatively late age of 30; after seeing the movie "Crossroads" Mikael Santana took up the study of the Blues Harmonica. By studying such masters as James Cotton, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy Williamson,
his progress on the instrument was rapid. Within two years he was serving an apprenticeship under the tutelage of Butch Mudbone on Beale Street in Memphis, TN. It was during one of these gigs that the band was honored one evening by Greg Allman, who sat in for several numbers, and later compared Santana's harmonica playing to that of the late Paul Butterfield.
Following Mudbone's advice, Santana went on to develop his skills as a front man, and with guitarist Al Rollag, formed the band Metropolitan Avenue with Steve Earnshaw on bass and Mike Karcz on drums. Using a repertoire built on the traditional Chicago blues style, Metropolitan Avenue incorporated into its sound the jazz, jump blues, and West Coast swing elements of such modern blues greats as Big Joe and the Dynaflows, Charlie Musslewhite, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, and William Clarke.
After another two years, Santana took a brief sabbatical from performing in order to learn the rudiments of music theory, work on his vocal skills, and concentrate on writing original material. The fruit of this time of "woodshedding" was two CD's released on the North Magnolia label: 1997's Point of Departure, and 1998's In Transit; the latter featuring the masterful guitar playing of Sean Costello.
With the release of In Transit, Mikael formed The Mikael Santana Band. Using The Black Diamond Club on Beale Street in Memphis as their base of operations, they have regularly gigged there as headliners, or have opened up for such blues notables as Little Jimmy King, Blind Mississippi Morris, Studebaker John, Sean Costello, and Anson Funderburgh with Sam Myers. On June 2, 2000 they were given the honor of opening for B.B. King at the B.B. King Homecoming in Indianola, Mississippi.
Santana's latest release; the self-produced Night Flight, is a
representation of the cross-section of his diverse musical tastes. Backed by an inspired band, he delivers blues tinged with up-tempo swing, mellow jazz, funky grooves, and rave-up roots rock. Other noteworthy influences that appear are those of Steely Dan and the Cuban mambos and boleros he grew up listening to in his native Miami. Although style is important, make no mistake: it's the feeling that makes the man and his band the real thing.
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Who I'd like to meet:
...whoever finds that I capture their fancy and/or stimulate their interest.
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| Mikael's Friend Space (Top 25) |
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