Tony Miceli

A musician, educator, and vibraphone evangelist, Miceli, a South Jersey native, has lived in Philadelphia since arriving in the late ’70s to study at the city’s University of the Arts (UArts). He’s travelled the world as a clinician and vibes ambassador, inspiring rising stars like Chien Chien Lu, originally from Taiwan, to study with him locally—Miceli is on faculty at both UArts and Temple and has lectured at the Curtis Institute of Music. Among his own inspirations were greats like Gary Burton and Milt Jackson, to whom his playing his often likened. These days, Miceli is often mentioned alongside contemporary vibes masters like Joe Locke, Stefon Harris, Warren Wolf and David Friedman, a group known collectively as Team Omega for their endorsement of Malletech’s Omega vibraphone. Miceli has played and recorded with names that resound throughout Philadelphia and the rest of the jazz-speaking world: Joanna Pascale, John Swana, Larry McKenna, Gerald Veasley, Jimmy Bruno, Dave Liebman, and Ken Peplowski are among them. The leader on a handful of recordings—2018’s Invitation is the latest—Miceli is also known for his work with Monkadelphia and Gerald Veasley’s Electric Mingus Project, groups offering contemporary interpretations of music by Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus. When he’s not gigging around his Germantown neighborhood or at Center City’s Chris’ Jazz Café, Miceli might be found drawing on the music that got him playing in the first place; he’s teamed with vocalist Paul Jost and bassist Kevin MacConnell to release two albums of classic rock-inspired jazz repertoire as The Jost Project.

Photo Credit: Paul Dempsey