“I went to college at UD (the University of Dayton) and majored in music education,” Melia, who grew up loving music, said. “I decided to play gigs when I left school.”
Melia played at the Colony Club, The Tropics, Annarinos and Suttmiller’s and others before moving to Key West, Fla. in 1979. He had a seven-piece band there and after a few years, moved to New York, because that was the place to be for up-and-coming musicians.
“I was in New York for about three months, and I found out the skills I had weren’t working well with what was going on there,” Melia said.
Melia came home to Dayton and started practicing. He took a job as the assistant band director at Alter High School and went back to playing at supper clubs as often as possible. He also taught private music lessons in woodwinds and keyboards. He got married and he and his wife, Rosie, whom he met at UD, took a vacation to California and loved it.
“I got an opportunity to move to LA in 1986,” Melia said. “I started cold-calling people and playing in different bands there. I also worked in movies as an actor.”
Melia’s son Hal was born in California in 1990, and the couple quickly determined it wasn’t the place they wanted to raise their child. They returned home to Dayton in 1991. By then, the music industry in Dayton looked quite different from what it did in the 1970s.
“I had gotten used to playing in LA whenever I wanted to,” Melia said. “But no longer could I do that here in Dayton.”
Melia connected with an educational program in Dayton called the Miami Valley Academy of Music and he started a jazz program there. When the school closed, a parent asked him if he would start a jazz program not affiliated with a school.
“I started ‘Jazz Labs,’ and we did 10 weeks in the fall and then brought the kids downtown to Gilly’s to play concerts twice a year,” Melia said. “It was such a rewarding time for me, and I was really getting into education.”
In 1995, Melia went to the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music for his master’s degree in saxophone performance. After graduating in 1997, he was hired by the University of Missouri in Kansas city to direct their jazz studies program.
“I was playing all the time in Kansas City,” Melia said. “But when our son was ready for high school, we decided to bring him home to Dayton to attend Alter.”
While the younger Hal was going to high school, his father worked as the assistant music pastor at Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City. He also taught music at Sinclair and Wright State and jazz history at Central State University. And in 2012, he was hired on tenure track as an associate music professor, directing the jazz studies program at Central State.
“Meanwhile a good friend of mine started the Springfield Symphony Jazz Orchestra, an incredible support system and opportunity,” Melia said.
Today, Melia’s resume is chock full of music experience and, even though he is officially of an age to retire, he continues working in music, where his passion lies.
“I started Brass Tracks band 10 years ago,” Melia said. “We play the music of Chicago and all the old horn bands,” Melia said. “I write all the arrangements, and we play all over the place regionally.”
To say that the music scene has changed dramatically over the years Melia has been involved in is an understatement. Trends change and the popularity of genres rise and fall. While he was in LA, it was the “smooth jazz” era and that changed to classical music. He learned to improvise and play all different styles of music.
Melia’s son is now living in Denver and opted for a career in consulting rather than music, even though both his parents were self-professed “band nerds.” Hal the younger was a drum major in high school and college and is a vocalist.
“I love teaching — from private lessons to different types of music,” Melia said. “From classical sax to jazz and flute to clarinet to jazz voice.”
Melia also said he’d like to do more writing, especially since he has experience writing music and lyrics. But he stays so busy that finding the time for the book he’s been thinking about is difficult.
“I guess I’d say I’m looking forward to spending more time with good friends, going on vacation and golfing,” Melia said. “But I want to also play as long as I can. The aches and pains of growing old seem to go away when I start playing.”
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