American trombone (and sometimes trumpet) player.
Born August 5, 1932 in Archibald, Pennsylvania, USA.
Died June 23, 2023 age of 90 in Toms River, New Jersey, USA.
At the age of three, Mickey was given a trombone that was found in the attic of his grandfather's house, and it changed the path of his life. At the age of five Mickey began to be recognized as a trombone prodigy, becoming a regular on several local and national radio programs. At seven Mickey performed a solo concert accompanied by the Scranton Philharmonic.
In 1949 after finishing high school, Mickey, then 17, began his professional music career and went on the road for stints with the Johnny Long Band and the Ralph Flannagan Orchestra. In 1956, Mickey joined the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, while also playing as a studio musician in New York when not on the road.
In 1959, he was simultaneously under contract to the ABC, NBC, and CBS networks, including playing on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and the Merv Griffin Show bands. During the 1960s Mickey also played trombone on countless recordings.
Moving to California, Mickey became the most in-demand trombone player there by leveraging his rare combination of perfect pitch and the ability to transpose music from any clef and key into whichever key the song required and the bass clef of his chosen instrument in real time. He played for many of the top TV shows of the time.
In 1983, he moved the family back to New Jersey where he continued playing on movies, TV, jingles, and jazz albums until he retired from playing in the early 2000s.