Welcome! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my site. Your feedback and support are much appreciated. Thanks again! Mike Latest News 5/23/2008 It's been a busy, busy time at the Broening house. There has been non-stop construction going on since we moved last year. Seriously ... Non stop. Now we're FINALLY just about finished with everything. Most importantly for me, the B-Hive studio will be up and running in a week or so. No more working out of a den ... Woo Hoo!!!! Many thanks go out to my father-in-law Norman for helping with the construction and garage conversion. You're awesome!! Also, a huge thanks to Demitri Sahnas for all of his expertise and advice. On the production front, I have the good fortune of beginning pre-production on several great projects. First, Marion Meadows and I are about to start writing on his 11th CD and our 4th together for Heads Up Records. His last CD, Dressed to Chill, was another huge success, reaching #2 on billboard and producing 2 top 10 radio hits ... Dressed to Chill at #3 and Remember Me at #10. It is tentatively scheduled to be released in early 2009. This summer I will also have the pleasure of producing the 3rd CD release for Jay Soto on Nu-Groove records. Jay and I actually have a bit of a history together ... we were in a band together in high school. We got along great, loved each other’s playing, yet somehow lost contact for several years before hooking up again on this project. I'm really looking forward to it. Jay's last CD did great, producing 2 top 30 radio hits, including the #3 hit Slammin'. You can check out his site at www.jaysoto.com. Also, I'm happy to announce that I will be writing and producing for Cindy Bradley, a fantastic up-and-coming trumpet player out of New York. We will be working together later this summer. She's totally cool and has a great sound. It's yet another project that I'm really looking forward to putting together. You can check out her site at www.cindybradley.com. Congratulations to Mel Brown on the release of his debut book, From Zero To Sideman. From Zero To Sideman is a no-nonsense book that keeps it real and takes the mystery out of making it happen. Everything from deciding to go pro, buying gear, getting educated, making a demo, to self-promotion is covered here in easy to understand language. Way to make it happen Mel!! Many, many congratulations!! I have a whole slate of other projects coming up later as well. I will give updates as more details become available. 4/01/2008 I've finished production on a few projects. First, I dropped two songs for Steve Oliver on his release "One Night Live," due to be released June 24th, 2008. It is a live performance CD that includes our two studio productions. One of the songs we did, "On the Upside" was already released as a single, and reached the top 25 on the radio charts. This was the 9th top 25 radio hit I've produced in the past 4 years. Steve, as always, sounds fantastic, and we had a great time working together once again. His live show is off the hook, so do yourself a favor and get this live CD ... it is absolutely incredible. You can check out his site at www.steveolivermusic.com. I also had the pleasure of working on 4 songs for my new friend Tim Bowman. His CD is finished and he's shopping a label right now. Not only was it great working with him, but he turned out to be one of my new favorite people. He's just a great, cool guy. We will also be working together soon on his X-Mas CD. I will post updates on the release of his CD when I get the info. You can check out his site at www.timbowman.com. Freddie Fox, who is my 1st call guitarist on almost everything I produce, has finished his solo CD, and I dropped in writing and production on 2 songs and played keys on a third. He is also shopping a label. Freddie has always given me fantastic tracks as a session player, so it was nice to work with him as an artist for a change. His CD sounds great. Best of luck Freddie!!! Congratulations to David Hernandez for making the top 12 of American Idol. David recorded here at my studio on a couple of tunes last year and was absolutely amazing. He's a great guy and great talent, and I had a great time working with him. Even though he was voted off, he has a bright, bright future ahead of him. Congrats David!! April 2008 marks the 6th year I have been playing Sunday nights at Eddie V's. SIX YEARS!!! Man time flies. As long as they'll still have me, I'll continue to play. I'm there every Sunday night from 6:30 to 10:00. Come check it out ... the food is insane!! 7/11/2007 I've begun work on a couple of songs for two great artists, Tim Bowman and Steve Oliver. Tim came to me about a month ago through my good friend Mel Brown. He needed a couple of originals, and we're working on them right now. This is one VERY cool, VERY nice, down to earth guy. He's also an absolutely amazing guitar player. You can check out his site at www.timbowman.com. I'm also back to work for my good friend Steve Oliver for two songs on his upcoming release. Steve is doing a live CD, and is going toward a more vocal, esoteric, world beat direction. The demo's he's sent me are VERY cool, and I'm sure the CD will sound absolutlely AMAZING, as he is an incredible live performer. I'm looking forward to working with him again. Check him out at www.steveolivermusic.com. New items have been added to the site. There is a new Press section, featuring articles and video from the recent press run on the 2007 Grammy win, plus new audio samples of my latest production, Dominic Amato's "Fresh from the Groove." Also, my first piano solo CD, Awakenings, is available for preview and purchase. It's about time!! Graphics and pictures are in the works, but you can purchase a signed, pre-release audio only version right now. Visit the "Solo Piano" link for more information and audio samples. Two more of my productions hit the contemporary jazz top 30 in recent months. George Benson's "Ordinary People" peaked at #22, and Marion Meadows "Remember Me" debuted this week at 28. 6/30/2007 Whew!!!! It's been a fantastic, incredible experience since the Grammy win back in February. Over the past few months, the local media has given the grammy story a great editorial run. A BIG, BIG thanks goes out to my friend Keith Mishkin, Nicole Roos and the wonderful people at Crosby/Wright for helping get the story out. Keith is one of my long-time best friends, and was responsible for going to Crosby/Wright to help get the publicity started. I can't thank you enough buddy!! And thanks again to Nicole for doing such a fantastic job. Another shout out goes to Dave Moskowitz for his pieces on KFYI. You can hear them here. Clip 1 Clip 2 Thanks Dave! You can see all of the stories by visiting the new Press section. 5/1/2007 Congratulations to my good friend Dominic Amato for the release of his debut CD "Fresh from the Groove." I had the privilege of writing and producing 8 of the tracks for the up and coming young saxophone star. It's an incredible sounding first effort for Dominic. He had serious chops and energy when I met him, but once we started the project, he literally turned into a brilliant artist overnight. Our little boyz all growzed up ... wipes away tears :) Seriously, this CD SMOKES!! Dominic is seeking a label right now, and a little birdie told me that there already is serious interest. I'll keep you updated as I learn more. You can check out some audio samples on my Audio Samples Page, and you can also check out Dominic's web site at www.DominicAmato.com 2/19/2007 Congratulations to Mike on his 2007 Grammy!! Mike's production of George Benson & Al Jarreau's "Morning" won a grammy for best Pop instrumental performance. Here's a sound bite of the announcement. Thanks to George, Al, John Burk, Marion Meadows, Mel Brown, Freddie Fox, and everyone at Concord Records. The local news has been taking notice, and it's been a madhouse at the Broening house this past week. It's just been an incredible, surreal, unbelievable experience and honor. Thanks, most of all, to all of the wonderful people in my life for sharing their excitement. 2/13/2007 New items have been added to the site, and more are coming. The samples page now has audio samples from Mike's last 5 productions, and will soon have upcoming projects as well as samples from his 2 piano CD's. The News page, Bio page, photo gallery, links page, and contact page are also now all up and running. Thanks for your patience! Click to visit