Download above for discography
or
Resume
I started my education in the Eastman prep department, and Hochstein School of Music. The rest of my education came from intense listening to various artists as they passed through the Rochester area (Jerry Niewood, Grover Washington Jr., etc.) and playing in various live and studio situations throughout Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls and Ithaca. As I play I attempt to create an environment that envelops the audience; whether in soft undulationg low tones uttered from the bell of the tenor sax, a haunting refrain from my soprano, a quick Herbie Mann lick from my flute or audio impressions from my midi-horn.
I started on flute at age 9 after hearing a bass flute in a popular movie. After taking a few lessons from a public school I was enrolled in the Eastman prep program which lead to participation in the certificate program. While receiving classical instruction my ear naturally gravitated toward these wild jazz hits that were coming from the likes of Herbie Mann and Huber Laws. Hubert was circular brething on the flute, to me this was crazy. Herbie Mann was all over that thing and then did someabsolutely stunning and expressive work on Concerto Grosso in D minor. I think I listened and played with that one till the vinyl wore out. Thenk there was Miles and the "Bitces Brew" project which was the spring board for so many artists including Herbie Hancock and Joe Zawinah and their synth influence. Cannonball Aderly, Wayne Shorter, and of course John Coltrane all mixed in with Jimi Hendrix blaring on the radio. It was a crazy time and I loved it. I actually wanted to get the sounds Hendrix got on his guitar out of my flute, so I started experimenting with amplification and delay devices. This eventually led to my fascination with sound engines and sound synthesis.
By age 13 I was playing in any number of basement bands. When I started attending Franklin High School in Rochester I had picked up the sax and started playing in the stage band during the day and a club band called Manchild at night.
I attended RIT thinking I wanted to be an engineer however I failed miserably as I spent more time playing my flute in the cinderblock hallways (great reverb) than studying. As I was in line at the bursar's office dropping out Brennan Roy was ahead of me signing up for classes. We chatted for a while and he invited me to jam with him and a few friends. This eventually became "Sha-Mar". We did clubs local to the Rochester NY area playing a mix of fusion originals and covers (Birdland, Tony Williams, Passport). We were received well for the times. We even had a guest spot on WCMF's Homegrown Show with Uncle Roger McCall.
Sha-Mar disbanded in '82 and I started working on a home studio to work up my original ideas. Eventually Mattius Rucht, the drummer from Sha-Mar called selling me a Wind Synth with an offer I really couldn't refuse. I fell in love with it immediately and have been playing a Yamaha WX ever since. I bought the WX5 after I wore out the WX7.
I bounced around in a few bands for a while as my family grew and did some studio gigs here and there as I wrestled with rconciling my art with my faith.
I released my first CD "A Familiar Giggle" in 1998. Kate and I traveled around the Western NY Coffee House scene trying to connect with audiences to sell CDs. She with her velvet vocals and wit; I just had a horn hanging from my mouth with some tracks on a CD playing in the background.
In '98/'99 I met up with some like-minded musicians local to my home in Albion and we started putting together more original instrumental fusion pieces.
While I love playing with the band and doing original, jam/jazz, I miss running around with my honey. At some point it may be fun to do both live projects. Time will tell.