Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Michael DiPasqua was born May 4, 1953 born in Orlando, Florida into a highly musical family. He began his professional career very early, gigging as a drummer with a band co-led by Zoot Sims and Al Cohn while still in his mid-teens.

During the next few years DiPasqua played with Don Elliott and Gerry Mulligan, and also accompanied singers Jackie Cain and Roy Kral. Towards the end of the 70s, the drummer was for a number of years co-leader of Double Image, a vibraharp, marimba and bass quartet that toured internationally.

Michael then co-led Gallery and followed that with a spell in Later That Evening, a band led by Eberhard Weber, before joining Jan Garbarek. He was a consistently inventive percussionist with the ability to comfortably co-exist in a range of musical styles, from the modern end of the mainstream through jazz rock to the cutting edge of improvisational music.

He recorded three albums as a leader with his debut on the Inner City label in 1977. He went on to record as a sideman with Jan Garbarek for two albums, three with Eberhard Weber, and one each with Adelhard Roidinger and Robert Towner all for ECM. On a variety of other labels he recorded with Siegfried Fietz, Volker Kriegel, Marian McPartland, and Gerry Mulligan.

Beyond jazz, ​​Michael was locally known for his role in helping to develop over 300 Subway Sandwich Shops in Central Florida, as well as co-founding PCMD Management Company, which owns and operates over 40 Subway franchises.

Cool jazz drummer and percussionist Michael DiPasqua lost his battle with cancer on August 29, 2016. He was 63.

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