Pedicin is a second-generation saxophonist. He is the son alto saxophonist Mike Pedicin. Mike was a popular entertainer in Philadelphia for over six decades, until he retired at the age of 80. Pedicin, the younger of the two sons, was 13 when his father took him to Atlantic City’s Harlem Club to meet Willis “Gator Tail”, a bluesy jazz saxophonist. Jackson became his idol on the horn. He heard Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane records and knew what he wanted to do with his life: play the Saxophone. Pedicin studied theory and saxophone together with Mike Guerra (clarinetist for the Philadelphia Orchestra), who had both previously taught Coltrane. He also worked with Buddy Savitt, a Woody Herman saxophonist. Pedicin began to compete in collegiate jazz festivals while he was a student at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. Pedicin switched from alto to Tenor at the age of 20 and continued his career as a member the Sigma Sound Studios’ horn section. He worked for Thom Bell and Leon Huff as producers. Pedicin also played on numerous sessions with the Spinners and O’Jays. While he was touring with Maynard Ferguson and the O’Jays and Rawls, Stevie Wonder and David Bowie, he continued to play on sessions. His first album, Michael Pedicin Jr., was released on Gamble in 1980.
