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-- Michael Danso --

-- Bio --

Scottish-born and Toronto-based, Michael Danso comes from a show business family. By age 9, Michael was touring Great Britain with his own group of girls, under the name Wee Maxie and His Lassies. At 10, he was spotted by Ella Fitzgerald, who was performing across the street and wanted to know which local group was drawing large line-ups. Fitzgerald was impressed and offered to take Michael to the U.S. his grandmother vetoed the idea.

When Michael came to North America at the age of 19, he started to perform on Broadway and Los Angeles in productions of Hair, Pippin and Jesus Christ Superstar. He also started touring countries such as Japan, Korea, Thailand, Guam, Italy, Germany, England and Canada. After settling in Canada, Michael quickly became an audience and media favourite over the years, appearing in festivals and nightclubs, as well as musicals such as The Threepenny Opera, The African Roscius, Riverdance, Rob Roy - The Musical. He was also the first black man in Canada to host and perform on his own series on television, "Just Jazz" on CHCH TV.

A random listing includes: Marty Allen, Denice Williams, Diahnne Carroll, Jack Jones, Maureen Forrester, Martin Short, Anne Murray, Rich Little, Al Waxman, Meatloaf, Lola Falana, Emma Samms, Sammy Davis, Maureen Arthur, Carmen MacRae, Stan Shaw, Mark Murphy, Eartha Kitt, Don Harron, Don Shirley, Nick Nolte, Martin Shore, Wayne Fleming, Joan Collins, Jim Carey, Blake Emmons, June Lockhart, Dan Blocker, Leonard Nimoy, Allan Thicke, Dakota Staton, Don Harron and Katherine McKinnon, Dame Vera Lynn, Nichelle Nichols (Lt.Uhura - "Star Trek"), Jackie Trent, Mesach Taylor, Goldie Hawn, Ella Fitzgerald, Soupy Sales, Amada Ambrose, Jackie Vernon, Cynthia Dale, Mimi Kuzyk, Ben Vereen, Marilyn May, Juliette, Lester Williams as well as many others.

Michael Danso has performed, and continues to perform, with some of the best Jazz musicians in the world, including Grady Tate, Joe Sealy, Don Shirley, Bill McBirnie, Bernie Piltch, Russ Little, Guido Basso, Hank Haney, Bernie Senensky, Ed Bickert, David Pommeranz, Peter Appleyard, Norman Amadio, Mark Murphy, Mo Koffman, Don Shirley, Reggie Moore, Harold Ousley, Phil Dwyer, Leslie Hutchinson, Don Abney, Charles Cozens, Carol Britto, Archie Alleyne, Dave Young, Randy Kohrs, Tony Hatch and many others we regret are too numerous to mention in this short summation.

Symphonic organizations which have presented Michael's Symphonic Jazz Series "White Tie and Tails," and "Harlem to Hollywood" which contain the music of Jazz Immortals George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Harold Arlen and Cole Porter, are wide ranging and numerous: Victoria Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, The Virginia Beach Symphony, Toronto Pops Orchestra, Elgin Illinois Symphony, Winnipeg Philharmonic, and the Moscow Philharmonic Strings Broadcast Orchestra are among the many throughout the world. Renowned conductors include John Barnum, Dwight Bennett, Boris Brott, Howard Cable, Charles Cozens, Robert Hansen, Vladimir Conta, Brian Jackson, Norman Leyden, Peter McCoppin, and Walter Noona.

Michael is currently working on a new release of originals and standards for Sugar Moon.

-- Discography --

• Give Me That Jazz (Syrdan - independant ) 2003
• White Tie and Tails (Syrdan - independent ) 2004
• Harlem to Hollywood (Syrdan - independent ) 2005
• Love For Sale (Syrdan - independent) 2006
• Danso sings Gershwin (Syrdan independent) 2008
• Danso sings Ellington (Syrdan - independent ) 2008

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© Sugar Moon Music Inc. - 2009