Mic Gillette
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mic Gillette is an American brass player born in 1951 and raised in northern California's East Bay area. He is famous for being a member of Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin. His father Ray Gillette was a trombonist with Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, and other big bands.
[edit] Biography
A child prodigy, Gillette picked up the trumpet and was reading music by age four. At 15, he joined the Gotham City Crime Fighters (which later evolved into the Tower of Power), playing both trumpet and trombone (as well as baritone and tuba). Gillette took a brief break from TOP to tour and record with the band Cold Blood, but re-joined TOP a year later, hitting the road and opening for Santana and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
As their reputation as a premier horn band grew, TOP toured with Heart, Rod Stewart, and The Rolling Stones, among others. In addition, Gillette has appeared on hundreds of recordings as a session player (in 1984, fearing that his daughter Megan would not recognize him, Gillette quit touring to be a full-time father). In 1998 Shortly after joining the Sons of Champlin he missed one of their concerts due to a split lip. According to Mic himself, he had split his lip, due to not playing for 14 years after leaving TOP. He spent those years running a landscaping business in the bay area.
A fantastic brass player with a great range and a funky style, Gillette now plays a Marcinkiewicz Rembrandt Model SC3X.351 Large-Bore Trumpet and a King 3B trombone with an F-attachment (he also plays a Pan American E-flat Tuba and an Olds 3-valve baritone). He uses and endorses Marcinkiewicz mouthpieces on all of this equipment. Oddly, Gillette practices very little; in a 2002 interview, he claimed to play only 3-4 days a week, and said he hasn't practiced regularly since he was seven.
Gillette is a former member of the Sons of Champlin (he departed in 2006), fronted by Chicago vocalist and keyboardist Bill Champlin; he is a current member of Tortilla soup a 10 piece northern California band. He also plays with Comedian Danny Marona, the Strokeland Superband and Funky Loophole (Gillette's own band).
Married (to Julia), Gillette recently suffered a heart attack (reportedly, his daughter saved his life), and has vowed to get and stay healthy. He has recently toured and recorded with The Doobie Brothers and Santana, and has just released a solo CD entitled "Ear Candy" (2005) on the BKA Records label. He is also featured on "Hip Li'l Dreams," a disc of originals released by the Sons of Champlin in 2005.
Mic has worked on various side projects. Recently, after a chance meeting with Tony Adamo, Mic wrote the horn arrangements for his album, "Straight Up Deal." His arrangements can be heard on Adamo tunes "No Strings," "Up in It," and "Groove Therapy."
