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Mic Gillette
Gillette in 2010
Background information
Born	(1951-05-07)May 7, 1951 Oakland, California, U.S.
Died	January 17, 2016(2016-01-17) (aged 64) Concord, California, U.S.
Genres	Funk, soul, East Bay Grease
Occupation	Musician
Instrument(s)	Trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn
Website	www.micgillette.com

Mic Gillette (May 7, 1951 – January 17, 2016) was an American brass player, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area's East Bay. He is best known for being a member of the bands; Tower of Power, Cold Blood, and The Sons of Champlin. He played in the horn section with Tower of Power for 19 years.

Early life

His father Ray Gillette was a trombonist, playing with acts such as Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, and other big bands. A child prodigy, Gillette picked up the trumpet and was reading music by age four.

Career

At age 15, he joined the band that would later be known as Tower of Power, playing various brass instruments for the band including the trumpet, trombone, baritone horn and tuba.

He took a brief break from Tower of Power to tour in the 1970s and record with the band Cold Blood.

He re-joined Tower of Power a year later, touring 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 appeared on hundreds of recordings as a session player.

In 1984, Gillette quit touring to be a full-time father to his daughter Megan. In 1998 he returned to music. Shortly after joining the Sons of Champlin that year, he missed one of their concerts due to a split lip. According to Gillette 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 played a Marcinkiewicz Rembrandt Model SC3X.351 Large-Bore Trumpet and a King 3B trombone with an F-attachment (he also played a Pan American E-flat Tuba and an Olds 3-valve baritone). He used and endorsed Marcinkiewicz mouthpieces on all of this equipment.

Gillette was a member of the Sons of Champlin (he departed in 2006), fronted by Chicago vocalist and keyboardist Bill Champlin; he had also a member of Tortilla Soup, a 10 piece northern California band. He played with comedian Danny Marona, the Stevie "Keys" Roseman All Star Band, the Strokeland Superband, and Funky Loophole (Gillette's own band). He toured and recorded with The Doobie Brothers (appearing on the Doobie's "Live At Wolf Trap" DVD), Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Santana. After a 25-year absence, Gillette rejoined Tower of Power in August 2009 for touring, replacing Mike Bogart; but he left the band again after just more than a year and a half on February 14, 2011.

Personal life

In the last years of his life, Gillette continued to do session work as well as live appearances; fulfilling a long-time dream to assemble his own band, he brought together Megan Gillette McCarthy (his daughter), Greg Barker, Dave Hawkes, Clint Day, and Matt Martinez to create the Mic Gillette Band (the MGB). The final version of MGB included Megan Gillette, vocals, Andres Soto, Tenor Sax, Jason Stewart, Guitar, Mark Foglia, Drums, Ryan Habegger, Trumpet and Keys, and Clinton Day on Bass and vocals.,

Gillette spent much of his time teaching doing clinics at middle schools & high schools. He taught clinics at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, California and at Stanley Middle School in Lafayette, California. He raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for music departments in schools across the United States.

Death

Gillette died on January 17, 2016, of a heart attack, aged 64 in Gold Beach, Oregon. He was survived by his wife Julia and his daughter Megan Gillette.

Discography

Band Albums

He was featured on "Hip Li'l Dreams", a disc of originals released by the Sons of Champlin in 2005 and appeared on the Doobie Brother's Live at Wolf Trap DVD. Gillette worked on various side projects. After a chance meeting with Tony Adamo, Gillette wrote the horn arrangements for Adamo's albums, Straight Up Deal and Dance of Love. His arrangements can be heard on Adamo tunes "No Strings", "Up in It" and "Groove Therapy". Gillette also performed with vocalist Josh Pfeiffer in Northern California with an eight-piece group featuring guitarist Dave Schramm and keyboard player Kent Gripenstraw.

He is included on the Cold Blood album, Sisyphus (1970) playing trombone, trumpet and flugelhorn.

Solo albums

• Mic Gillette, Newvo Kids (1995), Dancing Walrus Music
• Mic Gillette, Ear Candy (2005), BKA Records

1. "Funky Good Time" (1:05)
2. "Tell Mama" (3:47)
3. "I Like That" (3:51)
4. "Before I Go" (4:55)
5. "How Was I To Know" (3:57)
6. "If Only for A Moment" (4:22)
7. "Abaco" (4:12)
8. "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself)" (4:21)
9. "If" (6:42)
10. "It Had Better Be Tonight" (3:50)
11. "Funky Good Time" (4:13)

As sideman

With John Lee Hooker

• Free Beer and Chicken (ABC, 1974)

References

1. "Mic Gillette, of legendary Tower of Power horn section, dies". The Mercury News. 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
2. ^ Hernandez, Dr. Al Carlos (2016-01-06). "Tower of Power's Brass Master". LatinoLA. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
3. ^ "Mic Gillette, founding member of Tower of Power, dies at 64". SFGate. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
4. ^ Wink, Roger (2016-01-19). "R.I.P. Mic Gillette Of Tower of Power 1951-2016". Noise11.com. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
5. Sernoffsky, Evan (18 January 2016). "Mic Gillette, founding member of Tower of Power, dies at 64". SFGate. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
6. ^ Blistein, Jon (19 January 2016). "Tower of Power Founder and Trumpeter Mic Gillette Dead at 64". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
7. ^ "Mic Gillette Of Oakland's Tower Of Power Dies At 64". The Inquisitr. 2016-01-19. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
8. Harrington, Jim (19 January 2016). "Mic Gillette, of legendary Tower of Power horn section, dies". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
9. ^ "Tony Adamo & Mic Gillette: A Little East Bay Grease Goes a Long Way". PRWeb. Vocus, Inc. 2006-02-17. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
10. "Pfeiffer to headline benefit concert on Gallo stage". The Union Democrat. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
11. "Cold Blood - Sisyphus". Discogs. 1970. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
12. "Mic Gillette - Newvo Kids - Sing With The Band". Discogs. 1995. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
13. "Ear Candy - Mic Gillette". Strokeland Records. Retrieved 2017-06-29.
14. "Mic Gillette". CDBaby. Retrieved 2017-06-29.

External links

• Official website
• Mic Gillette at AllMusic
• Mic Gillette discography at Discogs
• Mic Gillette at IMDb

• 1951 births
• 2016 deaths
• American trumpeters
• American male trumpeters
• Tower of Power members
• Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area