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Michael Lampert

Michael Lampert received his BA in music theory and composition from Drew University, and his Master of Music in Musicology from the New England Conservatory of Music.

He has studied jazz and improvisation with Harry Leahey, John Carter, Dave Pike and Charlie Banacos; his principal instructors on the mandolin have been Ben Buccola, Andy Statman, and Robert Paul Sullivan. He has also studied classical domra with the distinguished artist Iryna Orlova.

Michael has appeared in numerous clubs and concerts throughout the United States, performing with the eclectic fusion band Blue Fish, The Barbara Reed Quartet, singer/songwriter Michele Cummings and the Lenny Carlson Trio, in addition to leading his own duos, trios and quartets. Michael has also appeared with mandolinist and luthier JP Charles in Salvador, Brazil and with the legendary blues mandolinist and guitarist Rich Del Grosso. He has also performed with Lucky Lloyd and the Blues Shockers and is a music contributor to Theatre Encino. His recordings as a leader include Jacaranda (2001), Blue Gardenia (2005), Ephemeral (2015) and Panoply (2020).

A jazz and blues specialist, he has also collaborated with the luthier Kevin Schwab on the design of the MLS Signature electric mandolin series, which Michael proudly endorses. Michael also plays a bandolim and an acoustic-electric four-string mandolin by Jean Paul Charles of Salvador, Brazil. Michael's domra was built by Shustoff of Moscow.

Michael Lampert: Blue Gardenia

Read "Blue Gardenia" reviewed by Stephen Latessa

by Stephen Latessa
August 3, 2005

When you think of lead instruments in jazz, the electric mandolin probably doesn't spring to mind. However, if all its practitioners could match the dexterity and achieve the same feel as Michael Lampert, perhaps that would change. In Lampert's hands, the instrument sounds nothing like what fans of bluegrass would expect. Instead, it sounds closer to a guitar. While listening to Blue Gardenia, I subconsciously began to believe that the music was created by a six-string.

However, putting ...

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Album Review

Michael Lampert: Jacaranda

by Todd S. Jenkins
June 1, 2001

And now for something totally unexpected. Something along the lines of David Grisman or Mike Marshall's bluegrass-jazz might be anticipated from a jazz mandolinist, yes? But Michael Lampert is a master of the four-string electric mandolin, a rare beast indeed. Without the added sonority of the usual double-courses of strings, Lampert's instrument sounds much closer to a high-pitched electric guitar than what is normally expected of a mandolin. That said, the music he creates with such an odd hybrid is ...