I grew up listening to Benny Goodman, Louie Armstrong and Lester Young....

I grew up listening to Benny Goodman, Louie Armstrong and Lester Young, mostly. We had a big Stromberg-Carlson player and I remember the needles for the 78 rpm came in little brown envelopes, six to a pack, I think. When Les Paul & Mary Ford came out with How High the Moon, I wore out the record in about a week, my father bought another, and another. I didn’t realize then, but I believe now that my deep love of music comes from this period.

Started playing alto when I was ten, took some private lessons and played all thru grade school & high school…..Fast forward about 22 years later, I had switched to tenor, was playing top forty clubs and wedding gigs but feeling kind of empty musically. Then I got lucky. Within a six month period several things happened.

A drummer friend of mine, Peter Scattaretico, who was studying with Lennie Tristano, invited me to come to a concert he was playing in at Carnegie Recital hall. Pete, who was never one to waste words, told me it was a trio, so I went thinking it was a piano, bass & drums evening. It was, in fact, a bass, tenor sax and drum trio, and I heard for the first time a tenor saxophone that totally mesmerized me, beautiful sounds that, I believe changed my concept of music.

I went backstage and met Lenny Popkin and began a relatively brief (about two and a half) year association with him as his student. Although it was just a few years, he pointed me in the right direction. His guidance during that time was so right and provided the foundation for my future learning. Talk about lucky, while studying with Lenny, I met several Jazz musicians who were both great Jazz Improvisers and educators.

I began studying with Connie Crothers a few years after Lenny stopped teaching, and during this period, I began to play sessions with Liz Gorrill, an incredible musician who inspired me, coached me and keep me focused. With Connie providing a semi-structured weekly collaboration, and Liz’s encouragement at sessions, I continued my journey….

To seriously study jazz improvisation with Connie Crothers opens one up to some amazing self discovery. I took the first small steps toward improvising, and developed my ear and my contact with my horn and deeper feelings……

As the years progressed I met and played sessions with many musicians, and in October of 1989 made my first public performance . I played a duet concert at the Greenwich House Music School, on Barrow Street in New York City with Liz Gorrill , aka Kazzrie Jaxen.  “A Jazz duet” the CD release of that concert, earned a good review and soon we were able to play in several NYC clubs…