| Michelle was born in Beckenham, England. Something of a child prodigy, Michelle started playing piano at age three in London. She continued her studies with private piano lessons from a neighbor, and then lessons at school. Michelle began studying classical guitar at age nine at the Blackheath Conservatoire of Music in Blackheath. When she was thirteen, Michelle's family moved to South Africa and she continued her piano and guitar studies there, receiving her Bachelors Music degree from Cape Town University. During | Michelle performing with the Michelle Saacks Trio.
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this time, she formed her first bands, playing locally as well as in the townships of Nyanga and Langa and at local music festivals. Michelle returned to England in 1982 and got involved with the burgeoning classical guitar movement headed up by John Duarte. By the beginning of 1985, Michelle had crossed the pond and settled in New York City to join the exciting jazz scene there. She studied jazz piano and ensemble at the Jazzmobile Sharon Freeman, Charlie Persip with jazz greats including Ronnie Mathews, Billy Taylor, Sharon Freeman, Charlie Persip and Freddie Waits. Michelle did many gigs locally and in Europe, performing and often wearing the musical director or arranger hat. Michelle has worked in many media from performing with Yomo Toro and R&B singer Gwen Guthrie, to recording with Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker. She performed piano and worked with Herbie Hancock on arrangements for his mammoth tour. After the birth of her son in 1999, Michelle took a hiatus from performing to concentrate on being a mother. She now gives private group music lessons near her home on the Upper West Side and performs locally. For more details about Michelle's work, check out these links: http://www.pamelawest.com/angel-bio.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Spent_a_Week_There_the_Other_Night http://www.spearedpeanut.com/tajmoehal/shop/ispentaweek.html
http://www.npj.com/homepage/teritowe/jsbpdm06.html (footnote 1) http://offoffonline.com/listings_archive.php?id=933 http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,2784534,00.html |