Jake Michael (a.k. a. John S. Michael) is an environmental land planner, as well as a musician and fiction author.
For twenty years, Jake has been a singer/songwriter whose music has been played on WXPN, WDIY, and other indie stations. You can hear his new CD Alter Ego here: The Alter Ego Web Page. In 1996, Jake won the Folk Factory People’s Choice Award, and was selected by Tom Gala to record a live CD at the Mermaid Inn. He has led ukulele workshops at the Philadelphia Folk Festival and the Folk Song Society’s spring Cabin Fever event.
Jake is a instrumentalist playing guitar, bass, traditional and jazz ukulele, the Cuban tres, the 10-string jarana ukulele of Mexico, and Creole banjo. Jake was the lead singer for the Flying Mangos, a band playing the rhythms of Brazil, Cuba, New Orleans, and Hawaii. He had also performed with groups including King Platypus and The Red Hot Peacenicks.
Jake’s Recordings
You can listen to (and buy) my new CD here: The Alter Ego Web Page. It was produced by Daoud Shaw, with Jim Harris on bass and Richard Redding on sax. These are all original songs, some of which were previously record, but we added a horn section and some Hammond B3 organ for an old school R & B sound.
Jake’s Videos
- To watch Jake and Richard Redding play Wade in the Water at the Unitarian Society of Germatown, click here.
- Watch Jake sing America the Beautiful in Spanish (Jake wrote the Spanish Lyrics) here.
- Jake and Richard Redding play Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On? at the Unitarian Society of Germantown. Watch the performance here.
- Jake and Richard Redding play Jake’s Lady Greene at Crossroads Coffeehouse. Watch here.
- Jake played at the Philadelphia Folk Festival as Lord Jacob and the Ukuladies, 2011 and 2012.
Buy Jake’s Recordings
- Order Life’s a Mess Lets Dance
- Order Trancendental Vaudeville
- Order Jake Michael; Live at the Mermaid Inn