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Mike Allemana

Born and raised near Chicago, in Elmhurst, IL, Mike became interested in jazz at age 12 after being introduced to George Benson by his guitar teacher at Perry’s Music in Villa Park, IL. In high school he performed the York High School Jazz Band, directed by Kurt Merrill, which inspired him to pursue jazz guitar as a career. He enrolled at Northern Illinois University, where he studied with Bobby Roberts and Fareed Haque. After earning a B.M. in Jazz Performance in 1991 Mike spent two years in Cincinnati, Ohio, spending many nights hanging with local guitar greats Cal Collins and Kenny Poole. In 1994 he returned to Chicago and quickly became part of the city’s growing jazz scene.

Performing credits include 1997-2012 with the late tenor sax legend Von Freeman at his famous Tuesday night gig at the New Apartment Lounge. Mike toured with Von to Berlin in 2002, which was released as Vonski Speaks on Nessa Records in 2009. He can also be heard on Von Freeman’s 2002 release The Improvisor on Premonition Records. Other highlights include 1996-1997 with organ great Charles Earland, 1995-1999 with tenor saxophonist Lin Halliday, appearances from 1997-1999 with organ master Lonnie Smith, 1998-2002 with tenor saxophonist Ron Dewar, a 2005 performance in Philadelphia with Von Freeman and drumming legend Mickey Roker, a 2006 performance with Von Freeman and drum-master Jimmy Cobb, and in 2008 with alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. Mike toured to Poznan, Poland in 2010 to perform with fellow Chicago guitarists Bobby Broom and Jeff Parker. The Jazz Institute of Chicago along with the Chicago Cultural Center commissioned him to arrange Von Freeman’s original compositions for a 10-piece ensemble, featured in the summer of 2011 for the Made in Chicago concert series at Millennium Park with special guests Eric Alexander, Julian Priester, and Steve Coleman. Later that same year, he travelled again to Poznan to perform an original 4-part suite dedicated to Von Freeman written for a 9-piece group. In 2014, drumming legend Bernard Purdie joined Mike and George Freeman for a weekend at the Green Mill in Chicago.

In June of 2013 Mike completed a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies from Northwestern University under the direction of saxophonist and clarinetist Victor Goines. He is currently in the coursework phase at the University of Chicago in the Ph.D program for ethnomusicology.

Awards

Voted best jazz soloist by the readers of the Chicago Reader, 2008.

Gear

1973 Gibson L5 1983 Gibson 335 Music man 210


Tags

4
Album Review

Paul Marinaro: Not Quite Yet

Read "Not Quite Yet" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Singer Paul Marinaro issued his acclaimed debut album Without A Song (122 Myrtle Records) in 2013. Seven years after the release of his follow-up, “One Night In Chicago" (122 Myrtle Records), and with almost a decade of performing from coast to coast at top-end clubs, including New York's Birdland, he has released Not Quite Yet, which is devoted to exploring timeless themes, such as life, love and the search for lasting connections. Accompanying Marinaro are longtime band members guitarist Mike ...

7
Album Review

Paul Marinaro: Not Quite Yet

Read "Not Quite Yet" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


The cover of the album is vaguely noir, with the urban greenish cast of tungsten film. A sole figure leans slightly against a building, downcast, staring into his soul, and waiting out a lit cigarette when it was still hip to smoke. The guy is Frank Sinatra and the album was In The Wee Small Hours. The year is 1955. It is difficult to believe that jny: Chicago-based vocalist Paul Marinaro has even been born, but clearly, Sinatra will make ...

8
Album Review

George Freeman: Everybody Say Yeah!

Read "Everybody Say Yeah!" reviewed by Mark Corroto


It took a long time (much too long) for listeners to recognize the brilliance that was Chicago saxophonist Fred Anderson. The New York-centric jazz cognoscenti have often overlooked talent that comes from Chicago, and artists were often drawn to The Big Apple to seek the recognition they deserved. Beginning in the '90s, though, the focal point of creative music shifted to Chicago and veteran musicians such as Von Freeman, Fred Anderson, and Harrison Bankhead, plus (then) younger talents, Ken Vandermark, ...

10
Album Review

Alyssa Allgood: What Tomorrow Brings

Read "What Tomorrow Brings" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


In the chemistry lab, solvents are said to be punctilious when they have been completely purified through filtering, distillation, and chromatography. Punctilious ether, if a sound, could be compared to the perfectly polished tone generated from lead crystal when struck with a platinum spoon. This is the level of refinement heard in Alyssa Allgood's voice on What Tomorrow Brings. Allgood has been filtering and distilling her tone over three previous recordings: Lady BIrd (Self Produced, 2015); Out Of The Blue ...

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“Allemana is a hard-driving, deep-listening guitarist with a gorgeous tone, one of the brightest and most dedicated talents on the Chicago jazz scene.” -Michael Jackson, Downbeat

“Mike Allemana….is an immensely gifted player with a deep harmonic bag and a grounded sense of adventure.” Chicago Reader 2009.

Primary Instrument

Guitar

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

Since 1998 jazz instructor at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago.

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Everybody Say Yeah!

Southport Records
2022

buy

Not Quite Yet

122 Myrtle Records
2022

buy

What Tomorrow Brings

Cellar Records
2021

buy

Videos

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