Tony Miceli, vibes: Tony Miceli has always been fascinated by music and more recently he added technology to the list. His goal: to be a better musician than he was yesterday. Deceptively simple m.o.’s, yet they are the driving forces behind jazz vibraphonist, Tony Miceli.
The son of a police woman and banker, plus the oldest of three children, he escaped the family’s spirited upstairs dynamics finding solace in his basement listening to any rock music he could get his hands on: Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Mott the Hoople and Genesis. His first purchase was The Guess Who. He played guitar at 8, drums at 9, and piano at 14. He directed his passions into devouring Mel Bay guitar books until he discovered classical music and an inspirational drum teacher.
Jazz wasn’t on the radar screen until college. He received a Bachelor’s degree in percussion from The University of the Arts in 1982. Following graduation, he continued fine-tuning his improv dexterity taking lessons from already established Philadelphia musicians. He never stops learning and the basement remains his comfort zone where he tirelessly practices, transcribes, composes, rehearses and listens. He says Milt Jackson is his favorite vibe player, “I think every vibe player would benefit by studying and transcribing Milt. He had amazing ears and musicianship. Any tune, any key, any time, and he knew them all.”
In addition to his love for classic rock, Miceli has a passion for AfroCuban and Latin music. His flirtation began in 1996 leading to collaborations with bandleader and timbale player, Edgardo Cintron and Cuban composer and pianist, Elio Villafranca. Subsequently, an invitation to attend and perform at the 1998 PerCuba percussion festival in Havana with Lino Batista solidified his adoration for the percussive beats and sensual rhythms of the music and traditions of the culture.
In the ‘80s, he performed throughout Germany, Holland, Belgium and England with Mallet Madness. He crossed the Atlantic to team up with an ensemble of mostly German musicians interpreting ‘60s classic rock into a straight-ahead format.
Closer to home, he performs as a leader or sideman in countless jazz clubs and concert halls including: Verizon Hall at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Zanzibar Blue, World Café Live, Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus, Chris’s Jazz Café, the Painted Bride and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Mozart: Reloaded, a January ’06 project for the Kimmel Center’s award-winning Fresh Ink series has Miceli featured as one of the guest artists paying tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in honor of his 250th birthday.
Popular festival performances include 20 years with Mellon, Reading, Harrisburg, Cape May, Berks County and more. Recordings include a self-titled compilation CD; Looking East with the Philly 5; On a Sweet Note, Gerald Veasley and the Electric Mingus Project; Band Shapes with French pianist Olivier Hutman; Monkadelphia; Music From the Inside Out, a companion CD for the new documentary showcasing The Philadelphia Orchestra; and two upcoming CD’s: with Concord Jazz recording artist and guitarist, Jimmy Bruno and a BMG tribute album to Luther Vandross.
In addition to leading his own ensembles, Miceli has performed with Dave Liebman, Ken Peplowski, John Blake, John Swana, Joe Magnarelli and others. He is a member of PhilOrch Jazz Ensemble, a quartet featuring members of The Philadelphia Orchestra.
Miceli conducts master classes at the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music and gives private instruction. He is on the faculty at The University of the Arts and Rowan University. In addition, he serves as a consultant to music and arts organizations.
For ten years, Miceli was a touring artist with the Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey Arts Councils. Additionally, he taught and performed for the Very Special Arts Association and Migrant Education Council in over four hundred schools, community centers, prisons and detention centers, including Graterford Prison, Muncy State Prison, Loysville Youth Detention Center and the Northeast Correctional Center. He worked in the mushroom fields in Chester County and in summer camps with children of migrant workers. In the mid-1990s he produced and performed with inmates at Graterford Prison as part of the Mellon Jazz Festival.
Meg Clifton, vocalist: Jazz vocalist Meg Clifton is a 27 year-old breath of fresh air. Instinctively adept at translating the standards, she’s on a new mission. Her project: employing her heart-felt phrasing and improvisational technique to reinterpret 1960s and ‘70s rock. “A seductive style and smoky sound,” an All About Jazz critic raves; the sultry songstress understands the meaning of ensemble, her instrument, an integral member of the quintet.
A teacher and student at the same time, she is now a University of the Arts vocal faculty member and continues to work on her craft. Whenever possible, she travels to New York attending monthly workshops and studying privately with renowned jazz vocalist and seven time Grammy nominee, Mark Murphy. In 2001, Clifton received a bachelor’s degree from UArts in vocal performance and in ’02, a Master’s of Music in Jazz Studies.
Clifton has shared the stage with Australian vocalist, Kealy Smith and at a later date, Kenny Rodgers. In September of 2005 she will release two new recordings: the first featuring internationally renowned trumpeter, John Swana along with saxman and JazzWeek’s “Artist of the Year”, Eric Alexander; the second album with pet project, Meg & the ClifTones. She also recorded an album with Big Swing Face and a tribute CD to Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee with vocalist, Mary Ellen Desmond, featuring Swana and Larry McKenna on sax. They opened for Linda Ronstadt at the Rosemary Clooney Festival in Kentucky.
Clifton was born and raised in Lewes, Delaware. The youngest daughter of amateur musicians, she remembers, “The stereo was always on.” Like any teenager, she listened to the transistor, but recalls preferring her parent’s taste: Miles, Ella, Billie, The Beatles, B.B. King and “lots and lots of Motown. My father would teach me songs and I would sing while he played the piano.” Admittedly, “I was pretty timid, staging my ‘rehearsals’ and first ‘performances’ in the privacy of my basement. The uproarious applause, just part of my fantasy world.” She occupied this musty retreat to compose originals and overcome her shyness. Clifton religiously recorded her subterranean concerts, and served as her toughest critic. She made her way upstairs in her junior year, joining the high school choir, the Delaware All State Chorus and the Delaware Music School Scholarship Jazz Band. Her first venture away from home, Clifton was a contestant in the International All Youth Talent Competition in Nashville, Tennessee. With each and every step, she gained more and more confidence in her abilities. After a gentle nudge from her father while still in 11th grade, Clifton landed a role in the high school musical. Grateful for the paternal push, she was hooked, and Glinda, the good witch of the North was her senior year claim to fame.
While remaining close to home, after high school graduation, she took voice and piano lessons, preparing for a University of the Arts audition the following year. The Delaware native fell in love with the school and the city, “I knew this is where I wanted to be.” She also sang around her beach town with the Finders, a local band performing all originals. The South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, awarded their persistence with a spot in their event.
Perhaps stemming from her formative years, Clifton’s subtly beautiful and unique contributions to the creative and collective whole are the reasons she stands out as a vocalist. The atypical twists and turns she adds to a song are the foundations from which the instrumentalists stretch their solos into serendipitous new directions.
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