Michael Philip Mossman has been active on the international scene since the age of 17. Michael has performed and recorded with his own groups and with bands led by a virtual who's who of the music industry. He is lead trumpeter with Jazz at Lincoln Center's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and is featured as lead trumpet and arranger on their Grammy winning album, Song for Chico, as well as on Un Noche Inolvidable and 40 Acres and a Burro. Solo releases by Michael include Springdance, Mama Soho, The Orisha Suite, Misa Afro-Cubana, Soul con Timba Live at Bohemian Cavern and Mambo Nights, with guest Arturo Sandoval. Each features Michael's much sought after work as composer/arranger in Afro-Cuban and Brazilian jazz.
Following stints as lead trumpet with the Machito Orchestra, Toshiko Akiyoshi and the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Michael became the musical director of Blue Note Records’ "Young Lion" group, Out of the Blue. He recorded four albums for Blue Note with this group before joining the Horace Silver Quintet. Michael has toured and recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, McKoy Tyner, Gerry Mulligan, Joe Zawinul, Slide Hampton, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jon Faddis, George Gruntz, Bob Mintzer, Steve Turre, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Tom Pierson, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, the Charles Mingus Orchestra, Benny Carter, the Gil Evans Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra. He has played lead trumpet with the Michel Camilo Bigband, the Jon Faddis Orchestra, the Chico O'Farrill Orchestra and the Jimmy Heath Bigband, among many others.
Michael has also been a key performer in Latin Jazz since his days with Machito. He has performed and recorded with Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Chico O'Farrill, Ray Barretto, Daniel Ponce, Israel "Cachao" Lopez, Paquito D'Rivera, Bebo Valdez and Michel Camilo (including a screen appearance in the motion picture Two Much). Michael is featured in director Fernando Trueba's highly acclaimed documentary on contemporary Latin Jazz, "Calle 54" as both performer and commentator. He also served as arranger and trumpet soloist for the legendary innovator of Latin Jazz, Mario Bauza and his Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra.
Michael has composed and arranged scores for the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic, Joe Henderson's Grammy winning Big Band album, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, The Charles Mingus Orchestra, Tito Puente, Mario Bauza, Slide Hampton and the Jazz Masters Orchestra, Paquito D'Rivera, the UMO Orchestra of Finland, the NDR Big Band of Hamburg, the WDR of Cologne, the HR Bigband of Frankfurt, the HGM Bigband of Zagreb, the Danish Radio Big Band, the Andalucia Latin Jazz Big Band, the Heineken Jazz Festival Orchestra in Puerto Rico, the Granada Bigband, Sedajazz Latin Jazz Ensemble, Giovanni Hidalgo and Ray Barretto's New World Spirit. He has also composed and arranged music for the films Bossa Nova and Chico and Rita. His ballet Beneath the Mask was performed by Jon Faddis and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra with the Deeply Rooted Dance Company choreographed by Mayte Vicens.
Michael has performed classical and contemporary classical pieces with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the Naumburg Orchestra, the Jupiter Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Composer's Guild, the Garden State Chamber Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, the National Symphony of the Dominican Republic and the contemporary classical ensemble Secret Cosmos. He has recorded the Daniel Schnyder Trumpet Sonata on the Koch Schwann label and has recorded two solo classical albums for MM1.
Michael has held positions on the faculties of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Rutgers University, The New School for Social Research, Bloomfield College and Manhattanville College. He is Professor and Director of Jazz Studies at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York City. Michael's music is published by the Hal Leonard Corporation.
