live performance

Saxophone was my first love., and was the only instrument on which I received any formal training. I saved every cent I earned until I could afford to buy my first sax when I was 15 - a Selmer soprano. That naturally led to a love for Spyro Gyra and Branford Marsalis, until I heard my first Stan Getz record, and then I had to get a tenor.

And of course I had to get an alto to add to the collection.

I toured extensively with bands playing sax, and worked cruise ship contracts off the west coast of America, playing in big bands and smaller shipboard jazz ensembles.

I play Selmer & Yanigasawa saxophones.

I started teaching myself how to play piano in my late teens when I met someone that could play without requiring notated music or formal training. The freedom of being able to sit down at a keyboard and just *create* was a turning point for me musically. I never really intended to be a piano player, but I enjoyed it so much that I progressed my skills to a point where I perform and tour professionally in a variety of ensembles and genres.

Being a piano player is invaluable in the studio, where I inevitably play session for all of my clients, whether it be straight piano, rhodes & wurlis, organ, or a variety of synths.

And as a music director, I find it easiest to rehearse and direct a band from the keys.

I play Yamaha keyboards.

Guitar was the first instrument I picked up when I was 4, but I only became serious about it when I opened my first studio and found myself in late night solo sessions needing to track guitar parts, with no guitarist on call. Since then I've included it as part of my repertoire, and regularly play session guitar for the majority of my clients.

I play Parker and Fender guitars

Having had a childhood immersed in classical music, and a solid grounding in formal musicianship, my familiarity with written scores is extensive. I've written arrangements for string sections, horn sections, choirs, and even woodwind quintets.

In fact, in a modern music age where so much music is created with a keyboard triggering samples, it's incredibly refreshing to take pen to paper and actually score individual parts that are then turned into something amazing by live musicians.

I spend a great deal of time working with singers in my role as a record producer, coaxing great performances out of an artist, vocal editing, processing, etc.

But part of what really sells a song is great backing vocal arrangements that don't just compliment the song, but actually enhance the lead vocal with specific harmonies and voicings. I arrange the backing vocals for all the clients I work with, and as often as not, end up singing some if not all of the backing vocals myself.