Michael Palma, Jazz Musician

Michael Palma's Resume

Michael Palma
Professional Music Major
3005 Wingren Irving, Tx 75062

Michael Palma Biography

Michael Palma is a Jazz Pianist/Producer/Composer/ Sound Designer/Student/Teacher. He was born in Irving, Texas on December 15th, 1985. Palma began classical piano lessons at the early age of 5. By the time he was 14, Michael Palma was playing with the elite of Jazz in Dallas, Texas.

Michael won several downbeat awards during his time at Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. He has performed with acts in Dallas, Boston, Rhode Island, New York, France as well as Japan. Michael has performed in a professional setting with Wynton Marsalis, Chris Potter, Adonis Rose, Jason Palmer, Hal Crook, Dave Santoro, Roy Hargrove, Paquito d' Rivera, Tootie Heath, Marchel Ivery, Barry Riese. Mr. Palma interned with Juniper Music and Soundesign (a jingle house with many big accounts) during his hiatus from Berklee College of Music for a period of 6 months. While with Juniper, Palma along with friend Quinn Brown, composed 12 songs that were sold to a company named Universal. Universal then shops them to T.V. programs and such. Many of Michael and Quinn’s songs were selected and are still being used right now on programs such as America’s Most Wanted, and Fox Sports southwest. Michael is currently still receiving royalty checks in the mail as he is BMI composer. This is a huge accomplishment for Michael and he feels very proud about his work from 2 years ago finally paying off.

Michael returned to Boston in January of 2007 where he began to finish school. Since he has been back in Boston and at Berklee he has played at the New Orleans Jazz Festival, The Blue Note in New York, the France and Japan Berklee audition trips, became the pianist for the acclaimed Jason Palmer group that plays at Wally’s every weekend, and has begun receiving his royalty checks for his television works. So, needless to say, Michael has been up to a lot since his return to Berklee and all of his teachers and peers when asked about him believe that he is going to be a true success story.

Educational Experience

2001-2004 Attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Tx.
2002 and 2004 selected as All-State Jazz Pianist for the state of Texas
2002 Performances at IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education) in Long Beach, California with High School Jazz Combo
2002 Received a full scholarship to take part in the first ever Dave Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony in Stockton, California headed by J.B. Dyas with clinician Christian McBride
2002 Competes and wins 1st place in The Monterey Jazz Festival High School Competition or best Jazz Combo where the grand prize was to Perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival
2003 Auditions for the Monterey Jazz Festival All- Star High School Japan Band and gets accepted and tours Japan in summer of 2003
2003 Receives another full scholarship to take part in the 2nd annual Dave Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony in Stockton, California with clinician Chris Potter
2004 Performances at IAJE in New York, New York with High school Jazz Combo with special guest Dick Oates
2005 - Present Attends Berklee College of Music as a Full-Time Student
2008 Becomes a Berklee Ambassador by doing concerts in Japan in the summer of 2008 and concerts in France in the Fall of 2008. These are Berklee audition trips for international students and it is a great honor to be a student performer on these trips.

Professional Experience

2001-Present Pianist in the Marchel Ivery (Former member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers) Quartet with Lyles West and Andrew Griffith performing in the greater Dallas, Tx area
2000 Performs with Jazz trumpet great Sal Marquez in Hollywood, California
2001 Performs with Paquito d' Rivera and Ron Odrich at Oklahoma University Clarinet Symposium
2002 Performs with Roy Hargrove at the Monterey Jazz Festival in Monterey, California
2002-Present Pianist for local jazz musicians in the greater Dallas area from Shelly Carroll (Tenor Saxophonist and Current Musical director of the Duke Ellington Big Band) to Pete Galeo (Tenor Saxophonist for the Woody Herman Big Band)
2005 Plays frequently at Wally's Jazz Cafe in Boston, MA with Igmar Thomas, Lee Fish, Jason Palmer, Godwin Louis, and James Williams among other Berklee students/alumni
2006 Plays Private gig in San Antonio, Texas with Heath Brother Albert "Tootie" Heath (Jazz druming legend who has played with everyone from Thelonious Monk to Herbie Hancock)
2006 Plays at the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas with Tootie Heath
2007 Plays gig in Dallas, Texas with Wynton Marsalis, Adonis Rose, Quamon Fowler
2007 Becomes Pianist in Quamon Fowler's quartet with drummer Adonis Rose
2007 Interns at Juniper Music and Soundesign in Dallas, Tx
2007 While at Juniper Music and Soundesign sells 12 tracks with composer Quinn Brown to Universal and has just started receiving royalty checks for compositions being used on America’s Most Wanted, and Fox Sports Southwest among other programs
2008 performs at New Orleans Jazz Festival and the Blue Note in New York with Berklee ensemble
2008 Becomes the pianist in the Jason Palmer band which plays at Wally’s Jazz café right down the street from Berklee every Friday and Saturday night. This group is starting to gain critical acclaim and will start performing in New York in April. Jason Palmer plays with the likes of Kurt Rosenwinkel and Grace Kelly as well as Marcus Strickland

Awards and Honors

2003 Downbeat award winner for Best Original Song "Tomorrow's Pasttime" in North America
2003 winner of first annual ASCAP songwriting competition with composition “Journey”
2003 and 2004 is pianist in BTWHSPVA Jazz Combo and is awarded best small jazz group in North America by the Downbeat Awards
2004 Is named best Pop/Rock Soloist in North America by the Downbeat Awards
2004 Receives a full scholarship from the Berklee College of Music
2005 Receives a cash award from Berklee College of Music for outstanding achievement in Jazz Piano at the college