Current projects include: ENGLE/MITCHELL/SZEKELY TRIO (w/ Matt Engle, bass, Matt Mitchell, piano); DAN BLACKSBERG TRIO (w/ Dan Blacksberg, trombone, Jon Barrios, bass); EQUIS EQUIS EQUIS (w/ Jon Barrios, bass, Bryan Rogers, sax); THE SCRIPTORS (w/ Matt Engle, bass, Bryan Rogers, sax); COURTNEY PARKER (w/ Courtney Parker, vocals, et al.)
Influences
Roland Barthes, spicy food, Bill Dixon, Taoism, Luce Irigaray, Gilles Deleuze, Paul Motian, Ornette Coleman, John Cage, Hélène Cixous, Laurence Cook, Mel Brooks, Frank Zappa, Jean-Hans Arp, water, Jack DeJohnette, Bjork, traveling, Ivy, Anthony Braxton, Leonor Fini, liminal states, Japanese gardens, Joni Mitchell, Erik Satie, lecso (Hungarian stew), Milford Graves, Bill Frisell, Judith Butler, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Neko Case, Georges Bataille, cats, Walter Benjamin, Belgian ales, Lou Harrison, Bunraku, Félix Guattari, nighttime driving, Marcel Duchamp, Oval, Spinoza, Ed Blackwell, Ingmar Bergman, Charles Ives, the infinitude of moments
MIKE SZEKELY studied jazz as an undergraduate at the Hartt School of Music (Hartford) led by the late saxophonist Jackie McLean. In 1996, he studied percussion with drum master Milford Graves at Bennington College. Mike has for the past few years been involved with many wonderful musicians and various groups contributing to the burgeoning improvisational and experimental music scenes in Philadelphia, including Equis Equis Equis, The Scriptors, the Dan Blacksberg Trio, Trio Rhizome, and Double-clutch. He also plays drums with singer-songwriter Courtney Parker, whose music spans a range of jazz, pop, and folk styles. Since 1993, Michael has co-led various intermittent projects with New York-based saxophonist Allen Livermore, resulting in two recordings: Feet Music’s "Assertions & sketches" (Chroma Independent Media, 1995) and the ALMS Trio’s "Advocates" (Eighth Nerve Records, 2005). Mike has also collaborated on projects and concerts with Anthony Braxton, Ed Mann, Stephen Haynes, Taylor Ho Bynum, Toshi Makihara, and Jack Wright. He received his doctorate from Temple University and continues to teach and write on philosophy, especially in aesthetics and the philosophy of music.
“A music head on the philosopher's level...Szekely belongs to an ambitious new generation of Philly players, who make their homes in free jazz but tend to branch out with ease and authority."
David R. Adler, Philadelphia Weekly
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Great sounds, man, and thanks for finding me here. Sorry I've been a chump about keeping in touch, but I look forward to getting together and playing sometime before too much more time passes!
