I come from humble beginnings and I am blessed to have had a very supportive family. In fact, without them I wouldn’t have studied music, had instruments, or had that first push onto the stage. That being said, I have always loved music. It has been my passion for as long as I can remember.
My first real eye opening musical experience was performing with my elementary school jazz band under the direction of the great Stan Ellis at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. We played in front of about 1,000 people. I can remember the song; David Sanborn’s ‘Chicago Song’. I was lead alto and had the solo. Hearing all of those people scream was the best feeling I have ever felt. I still search for that every night when I perform.
From that moment on I fell in love with Jazz, Big Band, and performing all at once. I continued working with Stan Ellis throughout public school doing Jazz Combo and High School Jazz Band. We won every award there was, IAJE, Berklee High School Jazz Festival, Clark Terry Jazz Festival, and many others. I was awarded MVPs’ at the local and state level. I was also lead alto for senior jazz districts four years in a row, as well as All-State lead alto my last two years of high school.
Jazz wasn’t the only style of music I studied. I am also classically trained and performed with the tri-county symphonic band and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. I was also accepted to the Junior District concert band both years of junior high school.
In my senior year of high school I started playing professionally doing club gigs and weddings. I worked my way through college playing with a great band called GQ and the Lady. I guess this line of work is known as GB (general business) but this band was not tacky in the least. It was hip. We did a lot of arranging and adding our own styles. I learned more tunes and valuable musical lessons with this band than I can begin to list here in this autobiography. For me, the combination of my jazz training and the versatility and showmanship of playing top forty put me where I am today.
In college, I got to study with the best players and educators in the music business. Only at Berklee can you say that you studied with Grammy winners. I played in all of the best ensembles; Phil Wilson’s rainbow big band, Lin Biviano’s urban outreach orchestra, Tiger Okoshi’s fusion ensemble, Joe Lovano’s 21st century jazz ensemble, Herb Pomeroy’s big band and quintet, and most importantly the Tower of Power ensemble, led by Wayne Nause. I was in the TOP ensemble for six semesters, three on alto and three on tenor. This ensemble was special to me for multiple reasons. First of all when I was a freshman in high school I was given a full scholarship to the Berklee five-week summer performance program. There I got to play in the first five-week Tower of Power ensemble. Secondly, there is no other style that is more fun to play than hard-ass groovin’ urban soul. This is why I love Tower so much. At this point, I’m sure that it is obvious enough that I have integrated this style of Lenny Pickett-esque playing, especially on tenor.
Being a fan of Tower I have seen them multiple times and have befriended most of the band. I have also got to meet and learn a thing or two from Lenny Pickett in New York City. For those of you who are unaware of who this is, Lenny is the baddest funk tenor player ever. (At least in my opinion.) He was a member of Tower of Power during the 70’s. He is now the music director for Saturday Night Live. You know the screaming tenor sax during the opening and closing credits? That’s the man right there.
At this point in my career I am playing in multiple bands and projects, all of which are available on this website if you look around at the media and links. I am performing regularly with Rhode Island’s premier wedding band Steve Anthony and Persuasion. I am also traveling and playing with New York City’s Downtown Fever. I also do studio projects. The next one on the list is for Peter Fernandes. The next track will feature myself on tenor sax and Dave Weckl on drums.
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