Over 30 years of performance worldwide has earned Michael Shand his place in the upper echelon of keyboardists in all of Canada. Despite, in just four years, having achieved a grade 9 Royal Conservatory of Music classical piano certification, his musicality has been deeply rooted in jazz, having been immersed in it since birth in the home. He then went on to study jazz at York University where he was a recipient of the Oscar Peterson Scholarship Award. However, it is the diversity of his musical influences that have uniquely moulded his playing style and made him a top choice for so many artists, across so many genres. Shortly after leaving York, Michael, then 22, was pianist and musical director for the quintet, Kollage, which featured Archie Alleyne and Dougie Richardson, pillars of Canada’s jazz community. His professional career was on it’s way. The people he has worked with since, on the road and in studio, are some of the ‘who’s who’ of the Canadian music scene.
They include:
- Jazz vocalists Molly Johnson, Jackie Richardson, Kellylee-Evans, Micah Barnes & Bille Newton-Davis (The Nylons), Matt Dusk, Sophie Milman, Laila Biali, Heather Bambrick (Jazz Fm 91.1)
- Instrumental artists Joy Lapps, Larnell Lewis (two-time Grammy winning drummer of Snarky Puppy), Alexis Baro, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, Pee-Wee Ellis (James Brown Band), Roy Hargrove & Gregory Hutchinson and and Caribbean jazz sextet Kalabash.
- Soul/R&B artists Sean Jones, Glenn Lewis, Omar Lyefook (UK), Divine Brown, Jully Black, Shakura Saida, Jarvis Church (Philosopher Kings), Haydain Neale (Jacksoul), Kreesha Turner, Anjulie, and Eric Benet.
- Pop/rock/AC artists Johnny Reid, Glass Tiger, Jim Cuddy (Blue Rodeo), Julie Crochetiere, and indigenous artists, Iskwe and Digging Roots.
- Hip-hop artists Kardinal Offishall, Maestro Fresh Wes, Partynextdoor
He is currently musical director for, Johnny Reid, with whom he has completed six sold out Canada-wide tours over 11 years, countless worldwide concerts since 2010, performed on the Junos thrice, performed at Toronto’s Rogers Centre for CFL’s 100th Grey Cup, and received his first Certified Canadian Platinum Award for his piano work on Reid’s album “A Christmas Gift To You” (2019). Michael has earned a Gemini award for his performance with Kollage on a CBC tribute to legendary singer, Salome Bey, and a Grammy nomination for his songwriting work on the Gramps Morgan reggae album, “Positive Vibration”(2021). Michael has also released his debut album, “Patience For Life” (2012) which features Larnell Lewis, Ross MacIntyre, Kelly Jefferson, Kevin Turcotte and more.