Mic Gillette
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.
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 Tower of Power
to tour and record with the band Cold Blood, but re-joined Tower of Power
a year later, hitting the road and opening for Santana
and Creedence Clearwater Revival
.
As its reputation as a premier horn band grew, Tower of Power
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 Tower of Power
. He spent those years running a landscaping business in the San Francisco Bay Area.
An outstanding 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 suffered a heart attack (reportedly, his daughter saved his life), and has vowed to get and stay healthy. He has toured and recorded with The Doobie Brothers
and Santana, and has 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. 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."
Mic currently performs with vocalist Josh Pfeiffer in Northern California with an 8-piece group featuring guitarist Dave Schramm and keyboard player Kent Gripenstraw.
After a 25-year absence, Mic Gillette rejoined Tower of Power
(August 2009) for touring, replacing Mike Bogart. After just more than a year and a half (February 14, 2011), Gillette departed Tower of Power
.
Gillette now continues to do session work as well as live appearances. He however, spends most of his time doing clinics at middle & high schools. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for music departments in schools across the United States.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
brass player born in 1951 and raised in northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
's East Bay area. He is famous for being a member of Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin
Sons of Champlin
The Sons of Champlin is an American rock band, formed in the late 1960s and hailing from the San Francisco-Bay area. They are fronted by vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Bill Champlin, who was also a member of the rock band Chicago.-Early years:...
.
His father Ray Gillette was a trombonist with Harry James
Harry James
Henry Haag “Harry” James was a trumpeter who led a jazz swing band during the Big Band Era of the 1930s and 1940s. He was especially known among musicians for his astonishing technical proficiency as well as his superior tone.-Biography:He was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a...
, Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
, and other big bands.
Biography
A child prodigy, Gillette picked up the trumpetTrumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
and was reading music by age four. At 15, he joined the Gotham City Crime Fighters (which later evolved into the Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
), playing both trumpet and trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
(as well as baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
and tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
). Gillette took a brief break from Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
to tour and record with the band Cold Blood, but re-joined Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
a year later, hitting the road and opening for Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
and Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
.
As its reputation as a premier horn band grew, Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
toured with Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, 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
Sons of Champlin
The Sons of Champlin is an American rock band, formed in the late 1960s and hailing from the San Francisco-Bay area. They are fronted by vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Bill Champlin, who was also a member of the rock band Chicago.-Early years:...
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 Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
. He spent those years running a landscaping business in the San Francisco Bay Area.
An outstanding 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
Sons of Champlin
The Sons of Champlin is an American rock band, formed in the late 1960s and hailing from the San Francisco-Bay area. They are fronted by vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Bill Champlin, who was also a member of the rock band Chicago.-Early years:...
(he departed in 2006), fronted by Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
vocalist and keyboardist Bill Champlin
Bill Champlin
William Bradford "Bill" Champlin is an American singer, guitarist, keyboard player, arranger, producer, and songwriter. His performance work is principally associated with the bands Chicago and the Sons of 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 suffered a heart attack (reportedly, his daughter saved his life), and has vowed to get and stay healthy. He has toured and recorded with The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers
The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The group has sold over 40 million units worldwide throughout their career. The Doobie Brothers were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004.-Original incarnation:...
and Santana, and has 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
Sons of Champlin
The Sons of Champlin is an American rock band, formed in the late 1960s and hailing from the San Francisco-Bay area. They are fronted by vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Bill Champlin, who was also a member of the rock band Chicago.-Early years:...
in 2005.
Mic has worked on various side projects. 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."
Mic currently performs with vocalist Josh Pfeiffer in Northern California with an 8-piece group featuring guitarist Dave Schramm and keyboard player Kent Gripenstraw.
After a 25-year absence, Mic Gillette rejoined Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
(August 2009) for touring, replacing Mike Bogart. After just more than a year and a half (February 14, 2011), Gillette departed Tower of Power
Tower of Power
Tower of Power is an American R&B-based horn section and band, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing for over 43 years. They are best known for their funky soul sound highlighted by a powerful horn section...
.
Gillette now continues to do session work as well as live appearances. He however, spends most of his time doing clinics at middle & high schools. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for music departments in schools across the United States.