michael valeanu

Born in Paris, France in 1985, New York based guitarist and composer Michael Valeanu is one of the most exciting players of his generation. His passion for Jazz and for all the other genres of music he came across while growing up as a musician in France and in the United States has allowed him to create a unique voice on his instrument. Michael started studying guitar when he was 14 years old but the music was always around him. He recalls playing with his dad's guitar since he was able to stand. " My dad is a music lover and an amateur guitarist. He would play guitar on my mom's belly when I was in the womb. He passed me the love for this instrument and he exposed me with a lot of different music, regardless of any stylistic boundaries." While in Paris he studied at the Nadia & Lili Boulanger Conservatory and at the Edim / National School of Music of Bourg-la-Reine. During those years the young guitarist was trying to get the most out of what Paris had to offer musically. He became very quickly active on the Parisian musical scene as a sideman and would regurarly get hired for studio work. At this time he also started playing and listening to music from North and West Africa, from Brazil and he even studied classical guitar ." I was obsessed with anything new I wasn't able to do or understand. " In 2008, in order to quench his thirst for music and to learn "Real Jazz" he moved to New York city and attended the New School For Jazz and Contemporary Music. " I was finally able to study and play with my heroes and I was surrounded by young talented musicians." In 2010 he was selected to participate in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program for a two weeks residency at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Since then Michael has played in New York Jazz clubs such as Small's, Jazz Standard, Birdland, Smoke and in clubs and festivals all over the States, as well as in Europe and in Japan. In 2012 he released his debut album "Tea Time" and his second album "Hard To Cook" will be available on the 28th of April 2015. Michael Valeanu is a Guitarist and Composer