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Michael Pagán

Michael Pagán was born in Ravenna, Ohio. He was raised in a musical family and received his first piano instruction from his parents. He remembers hearing recordings of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and Miles Davis, as well as Beethoven, at an early age. At Kent State University he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education with emphases in piano/choral music and a Master of Arts in composition, where his teachers were James Waters, Thomas Janson, and Frank Wiley. He was a music theory student of Hugh A. Glauser, after whom the school is presently named. Mike played piano in the new music ensemble under the direction of Frank Wiley and the jazz ensemble under the direction of Chas Baker. His piano teachers included Toni Glauser, Lois Rova Ozanich, Robert Palmieri, and Olga Kuehl-White of the University of Akron. The piano playing and compositions of the late Pat Pace were also an influence. During those years Mike played jazz piano and bass throughout Northeast Ohio. He also played bass in the KSU Orchestra. He received his Doctor of Music degree in composition from Northwestern University, where his principle composition teachers were Lynden DeYoung, Alan Stout, and Steven Syverud. He played piano in the NU jazz and contemporary music ensembles, both directed by Don Owens and continued piano studies with Laurence Davis. While in Chicago he was named a “musician deserving wider recognition” by Downbeat magazine. As a jazz pianist he has performed for over 40 years throughout the United States and in Europe with many notable jazz musicians. Ensembles he has performed with as a soloist include the Ashland (OH) Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, the Northshore Concert Band, and the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra of Denver. In 2017 he was a jazz soloist with the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and in 2019 with the Southeastern Louisiana University Jazz Ensemble. He has also played exteneded engagements aboard the historic steamboat Delta Queen on the Mississippi River, specializing in early as well as mainstream jazz. Since 2009 he has held an on-going Tuesday night solo engagement at Cafe Trio in Kansas City, MO.

Mike has produced an extensive list of compositions and arrangements, over 150 works, mostly in the jazz idiom. He has apeared on twenty-five CDs as a leader or supporting artist and has received numerous awards for his writing, including First Prize, New Music for Young Ensembles composers competition, which included a Carnegie Hall premiere. He has been commissioned by the American Jazz Museum, the Michigan Music Teachers Association, the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra, WLS-TV Channel 7, Chicago and high schools and colleges throughout the country. His big band CD Pag’s Groove received airplay and critical acclaim throughout the United States and in Europe, earning a 5-star review in the Irish Times of Dublin. His CD Three For The Ages featuring bassist Bob Bowman and drummer Ray DeMarchi garnered glowing reviews and enjoys worldwide play on the internet; his 12 Preludes and Fugues was recorded by the Colorado Saxophone Quartet and also received outstanding reviews.

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3
Album Review

Michael Pagán: Paganova

Read "Paganova" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Pianist/composer Michael Pagán's Paganova is a testament to his prowess in the jazz domain. The release elegantly blends Pagán original compositions with three masterful arrangements of post-bop classics, which are both cohesive and exhilarating. In addition to Pagán, the other members of the quintet are multi-versatile saxophonists David Chael and Michael Herrera and the rhythm section of electric and upright bassist Louie Pagán, son of Michael, and the hard-hitting drummer Ray De Marchi. Each of the ...

12
Album Review

Christopher Burnett: The Standards, Vol. 2 (Live at The Drum Room in Kansas City)

Read "The Standards, Vol. 2 (Live at The Drum Room in Kansas City)" reviewed by Kyle Simpler


During its heyday, The Drum Room in The Hotel President was one of Kansas City's most popular jazz venues. Performers such as Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, and Benny Goodman all played there. The Drum Room closed during the late seventies but was brought back to life a few years later and, between 2006 and 2007, The Christopher Burnett Quartet performed there on the first Saturday night of each month. That was Burnett's first outing as a bandleader and his tenure ...

1
Album Review

Michael Pagan, Bob Bowman, Brian Steever: The Ottawa Sessions

Read "The Ottawa Sessions" reviewed by Luigi Sforza


The Ottawa Session è un disco revivalistico, che si ispira chiaramente al bop, è dotato di un marcato senso dello swing e possiede il dono della leggerezza. Il trio responsabile del programma musicale -Michael Pagan al pianoforte, Bob Bowman al contrabbasso e Brian Steever alla batteria -ha il merito di immergere l'ascoltatore in una serie di atmosfere legate, per assonanza, al passato prossimo del jazz. Una lunga sequenza di coincidenze stilistiche -che vanno dal blues al medium ...

363
Album Review

Michael Pagan Trio: Three for the Ages

Read "Three for the Ages" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Pianist Michael Pagan is known as a prolific composer and arranger for small combos to big bands, and is currently Assistant Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. It is, however, his performance as a musician on Three for the Ages that stands out above his already impressive musical credentials. Adept at recording with big bands, and in a duet and solo formats, as well as small ensembles, Pagan's last trio recording was Tacitus Plus ...

117
Album Review

Michael Pagan Big Band: Pag's Groove

Read "Pag's Groove" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone


For his second album on Capri, pianist/composer Michael Pagán leads his big band on eight selections that demonstrate his ability to add texture and harmonization to the arrangements. Other than the Ray Evans/Jay Livingston standard “Never Let Me Go," all of the tunes are originals.

Originally from Ohio and with a degree from Northwestern, Pagán was selected by Downbeat, while still a student, as a “Musician Deserving Wider Recognition." He has taught jazz composition and arranging at the ...

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Album Review

Michael Pagan Big Band: Pag's Groove

Read "Pag's Groove" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Big bands dead? Far from it, my friend. In fact, so many spectacular new albums have been released this year that I may have to enlarge my Top Ten list to a Top Twenty. Here's another leading candidate for inclusion on anyone's honor roll, Pag's Groove, composer/arranger/pianist Michael Pagán's highly impressive big band debut on Capri Records, which continues on an upward curve set in motion last year with a trio of superb recordings by the Mark Masters Jazz Ensemble. ...

147
Album Review

Michael Pagan Big Band: Pag's Groove

Read "Pag's Groove" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


The saxophones come prowling out, darkly, on “Essential Trivia," the opening track on Pag's Groove. Then the bass and vibes lighten the feeling, and the Michael Pagán Big Band starts the show off swinging. Gorgeous tones prevail, vivid colors splashing all over the charts. Composer/arranger/bandleader Michael Pagán's arrangements use a palette that includes all the colors, bright hues over grey washes, or twining, tapestry style, in and out of the deeper toned threads. It's hard to nail down his influences. ...

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On Twelve Preludes and Fugues

Michael Pagán’s Twelve Preludes and Fugues for Saxophone Quartet is a monumental addition to the saxophone quartet literature. A substantial, creative and compelling work; I believe that listeners and performers alike will find its blend of classical and jazz styles stimulating and profoundly rewarding. Tim Timmons, Professor Emeritus of Saxophone, UMKC Conservatory

Pagán’s mastery of contrapuntal sophistication is on full display here...by far, the most swinging chamber music I’ve ever heard.” Wayne E. Goins, Jazz Ambassador Magazine

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Primary Instrument

Piano

Location

Kansas City

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Director of Jazz Studies, Olivet College; University of Minnesota Duluth; Interim Director of Jazz Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder; Assistant Director of Jazz Studies, University of Missouri Kansas City; Adjunct Professor of Jazz Piano, Ottawa University: Jazz Piano, Piano, Theory, Jazz Theory, Arranging, Composition, Combo, Director, BRAVO! (Jazz Singers)

Clinic/Workshop Information

Available for clinics on any jazz topic, including improvisation, performance, big band, combo, composition, arranging, history and pedagogy.

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Paganova

Capri Records
2024

buy

The Standards, Vol. 2...

ARC - Artists Recording Collective
2022

buy

Keyboard Christmas II

ARC - Artists Recording Collective
2022

buy

2+2

ARC - Artists Recording Collective
2018

buy

The Ottawa Sessions

ARC - Artists Recording Collective
2015

buy

Burn It Forward

From: Paganova
By Michael Pagán

Videos

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