Mike Sailors has performed around the world in Japan and Europe, as well as throughout the United States and Canada. He has appeared at venues such as the Blue Note (Tokyo, Sapporo and New York), Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, The Jazz Standard, Yoshi’s, The Jazz Standard, The Jazz Kitchen, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, the Bowery Ballroom, Smalls Jazz Club as well as the Tokyo Blue Note Jazz Festival, the EFG London Jazz Festival, the Detroit Jazz Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Mike was also a featured guest artist at the 2015 North Carolina Music Educators Conference, as well as a featured guest artist and composer at the 2013 Brevard Music Festival.
Mike also was an active Trumpet player in the NYC Broadway scene. Past shows include Beautiful - The Carole King Story, Be More Chill and The Prom.
Along with an active performing career, Sailors has maintained a busy career in composition. He has been hired by the likes of Mack Avenue Records, Decca Records, the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra as well as a host of internationally known musicians including Ryan Kisor, Sean Jones, Rodney Whitaker, Pete Bernstein, Jimmy Cobb and many others. He has also written for TV.
Originally from Charleston, South Carolina Mike grew up playing in his local church. He went on to attend the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2001, Michigan State University in 2007 and The University of Texas in 2010.
In 2019, Sailors joined the faculty of The University of Texas Butler School of Music, where he leads the Jazz Trumpet Studio and mentors young artists looking to build careers in music. He currently splits his time between New York City and Austin, Texas.