Mike Allen
MIKE ALLEN-saxophonist. The 39 year-old Kingston Ontario native is profiled in Mark Miller's Miller Companion To Jazz In Canada, has a Master's degree in Jazz from New York University and was featured in a Globe and Mail article that listed him as one of a half-dozen Interesting Canadians To Watch. Over his 20-year career he has worked with many well-known jazz artists including trombonist Julian Priester, drummer Donald Bailey, trumpeter Kenny Wheeler, saxophonist Gary Bartz, pianist Don Friedman, and multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson. Mike is a longtime member of the Montreal-based guitar legend Sonny Greenwich's group, with whom he recorded two CDs Standard Idioms (Kleo) and Fragments Of A Memory (Cornerstone). After relocating to Vancouver from Montreal in 1995, he began a similarly fruitful musical partnership with ex-Bill Evans bassist Chuck Israels, that led to performances throughout the Pacific Northwest, several Canada-wide tours and features on nationally aired CBC and NPR radio broadcasts.