Mike recalled seeing Sugar Chile Robinson playing boogie woogie piano: "The first time I saw him, man, he knocked me out.
He played after the Count Basie show, so I went home and started picking out boogie woogie bass lines.
[citation needed] Longo's career began in his father's band, but later Cannonball Adderley helped him get gigs of his own.
There was a joint across the street called the Copper Rail, which was a soul food restaurant and a bar where the musicians from the Metropole would all hang out.
The main thing I got from Peterson was how to play piano and how to be a jazz pianist- textures, voicings, touch, time, conception, tone on the instrument.
[citation needed] Longo performed at weekly jazz sessions held at the Baháʼí center in honor of Gillespie,[2] a tradition he helped start.
[4] Longo also taught a master class[5] to upcoming jazz musicians including Adam Rafferty.
[5] A big part of Mike Longo's mission was to re-establish the apprenticeship relationship in teaching jazz.