A guitar virtuoso...
Michael Reese was born in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in 1953 to
Lt. Colonel Gilbert M. Reese and his wife Francis. After an early
childhood traveling the globe with his family, he finally landed
in Colorado Springs and, by the age of twelve, had taught himself
how to play guitar. Not long after, he was playing at junior high
dances and private parties. By the time he was fifteen, he started
playing in bands in which the other musicians were older and more
experienced. It became evident to those he played with and for
that Michael was a virtuoso in the making.
Michael's love for the guitar extended beyond the stage. During
his high school years, he organized yearly blues festivals which
provided his classmates with the opportunity to hear and
appreciate that genre of music. Always focused on improving
himself as a musician, he completed two years of college music
theory and appreciation classes before graduating from Colorado
Springs Mitchell High School in 1972.
 For
the next fifteen years, Michael played blues, rock, country, funk
and jazz in over seventy bands. He also formed several bands of
his own which he used as vehicles for his original compositions.
He opened for such rock luminaries as Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter,
John Mellencamp, Huey Lewis, Robben Ford, John Mayall, Alice
Cooper and Steve Morse, the multi-talented lead guitarist and
founder of the Dixie Dregs and current guitarist with the revived
giants of the revived seventies rock scene, Deep Purple. Michael
soon established himself as the finest guitarist ever to come out
of Colorado. Before long, he was playing with such legends as
Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Mick Fleetwood, a
founding member of Fleetwood Mac, and Mitch Mitchell, the drummer
who dept the beat for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
In the early eighties, Michael moved to Los Angeles, the Mecca
of the popular music industry, and studied at the Dick Grove
School of Music. This combined with his natural talent drew the
interest of some of the biggest stars in L.A. In the early
nineties, Michael moved back to Colorado and settled in the
music-rich city of Boulder. It was not long before his mastery of
the guitar was the talk of the town. In 1992, he formed The Boogie
Tramps which later became the Wall of Windows, a band which
quickly became synonymous with great original rock and roll
virtuoso performances. In 1996 Michael left the band to work in
the studio and concentrate on his own projects.
Michael has done extensive work in the studio. He has played on
national commercials, feature film scores, Discovery Channel
documentaries, ski movie icon Warren Miller's "Snowriders," and an
upcoming IMAX film. His film credits include; "For Hire," starring Rob Lowe
and Joe Montagna; "Bleeders," with Rutger Hauer; and "Rainbow,"
featuring Dan Akroyd and Bob Hoskins. In each of these films he
worked with the highly regarded film composer Alan Reeves.
 Michael's gifts and his creativity have been recognized over
and over. In 1995, he was nominated as "Best Guitarist of the
Year" at the prestigious Log Angeles Music Awards for his work on
his first solo CD, "Dragonflyer."
Later the same year, he performed in the
Tommy Bolin
Tribute Concert and was named an Official Fender Endorsee by
Fender Musical Instruments, Inc.
In 1996 Michael formed the band F-5 whit former Joe Walsh
keyboardist Tommy Stephenson and Peter Frampton's former bass
player, Stan Sheldon. Their first CD, "Dodging the Dream Killers," produced by famed Santana drummer, Michael Shrieve, was nominated by Jazz Central Station as one of the ten
best jazz CDs of the year.
Michael's multi-disc project
Guitarscapes and
Treasured Path CD are all available at
www.michaelreesemusic.com/discography. Michael's collaborative CD projects with Alan Reeves, "Between Two Worlds" and "In The Moment",
are available at
www.alanreevesmusic.com.
Michael Reese can be reached at [contact
info].
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