Pianist-vocalist Michael Carney first became an orchestra leader at the age of 14, playing for parties in his home town of Irvington, New York and Westchester County. In 1959, after graduating from Northwestern University with a Bachelor's Degree in economics, he moved to Philadelphia and began a career as a security analyst. During this time, he and two partners started a part-time dance orchestra and in 1967 they decided to become full time musicians. After playing for many parties on the East Coast, Carney moved to New York City in 1970 and began a gradual geographic expansion which has included appearances in 130 cities in 40 states, Canada, the Bahamas and Europe.

Carney describes his music as "dancing jazz." He has assembled a repertoire which includes Broadway show tunes, movie themes, and obscure melodies that are played and sung at medium or faster tempos. For variety, he plays several songs with bossa nova and samba beats, and also includes rock and contemporary songs from the 50's to the 80's. His instrumentation is very different from most orchestras: two to four brass are usually employed along with a rhythm section of piano, bass, guitar, and drums, and often a second pianist and female vocalist.