Biography

       Having lived in the Russian River area of Northern California for over 25 years, I call Sonoma County home.  However, I was born in Dundee, Scotland.  I came to this country in 1955, two years after my father came here and established himself.  I was six years old at that time.  I was raised in West Allis, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee.  I graduated from West Allis Central High School in 1967.   I served a total of six years, four active and two inactive, in the United States Air Force, from  1967 to 1971. I was a Sergeant E-4 upon discharge. 

       It wasn't until I got out of the service that I decided to learn to play the Saxophone.  I was playing a little guitar and harmonica at that time and I knew I loved music, so....  Starting at Solano Junior College in Fairfield, Ca., I studied with two professors who I still consider my mentors, John Kolarik and David Froehlich.  David Froehlich is a pianist extraordinaire.  He played a lot like Oscar Peterson, one of his hero's.  John Kolarik was a low brass man, but is now playing stand up bass.  I learned a lot from these two men.  Not only did they teach me about music, but they exemplified the kind of men who have lived their life pursuing something that they love.  I wanted to do that.  After two years under their tutelage, I received my Associate in Arts degree there in 1973.  Then I spent a year at San Francisco State University, studying privately with Danny Patiris. Danny was an outrageous tenor sax and oboe player.  He showed me the way to a fine tone by introducing me to long tones and breathing properly.  

       In 1974, I transferred to Cal State Hayward, where I spent two years studying with one of the best classical Saxophone players I have ever heard, William Trimble.  I  studied jazz with Jeff Neighbors and Marv Nelson in 1976.  At that point I began my career as a musician by running away with the circus.  I traveled with Circus Vargas for seven months.  A very interesting job, to say the least.  I played piccolo and alto Saxophone in a ten piece brass band.  The book was 4 inches thick, the show was two and a half hours long, and we played all those K.L.King circus marches as fast as possible!  I then returned to Northern California where I started playing with a group called Crossroads.  Playing top forty clubs, we worked five or six nights a week for three years.  We then went on the road, traveling up and down the west coast, including a tour in British Columbia, Canada.  After those exhausting experiences, I decided that road life was not for me, and settled back in Sonoma County in 1979.  The next ten years found me, once again, living in Western Sonoma County where I played in lots of different bands, including a year and a half in a state program called C.E.T.A.  We played for schools and old folks homes and Sonoma State Hospital.  That was an interesting gig!  At age 36, I decided to go back to college to finish the degree program I started in 1971.  I attended classes at Sonoma State University, but took my Saxophone master classes from Bill Trimble, and performed my recitals at California State University, Hayward.   In 1988, after seven years of college, I finally received my Bachelor of Arts in Music, Saxophone Performance, from California State University, Hayward.

     While in Sonoma County, some of the bands I have played with include The Russian River All Stars, Bob Simmons New Exchange, The Gray Cats, True Slack and Grand Slam. Those are some that I remember anyway.  I have played hundreds of casual gigs with various local musicians.  While I was with Grand Slam, I was mainly a keyboard player!  Imagine that!  We were a rock and roll cover band, so it wasn't like I really had to play piano!  A fun band, albeit, very loud, but it kept me in reed money.  One of my more interesting gigs was working with Jim Boggio.  That guy was a character!  For two and a half years we played the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa every Friday and Saturday night.  We were founding members of The Sonoma Swamp Dogs, led by Boggio.  This was a cajun-zydeco band with some scary players!  We played some very large venues, including a few gigs in South Lake Tahoe and Reno.  Our very first gig was opening for Asleep at the Wheel at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa, Ca.  That was big fun!  Jim could play the heck out of the accordion and piano, and was one of the funniest people I ever knew.  I learned a lot from Jim.  Sadly, Jim passed away several years ago.  Even though we had our ups and downs over our seven or eight years together, I still think of him almost daily.  I will never forget him. 

       Among Sonoma County's vast variety of bands, I have filled in many times for Gator Beat, Blue Moon, two well known local groups that are always a lot of fun to play with.  One of my all time favorite bands that I have been in has to be the Dave Brady Octet.  It was three saxes, two trumpets and rhythm section. Dave was the drummer and arranger, and he was great at both.  He played like Art Blakey!  We played all straight ahead jazz from the "blue note" era.  Of course, because we played jazz, we didn't get too many paying gigs.  It was mainly a chance to play great music.  It was a labor of love, I guess you'd say.

     I have had the pleasure of playing with a few very famous players.  Chet Baker was one of the greats in jazz, and I had the chance to play along side of him one night.  One of the most notorious musicians to stalk the Russian River was Richie Cole.  We played together on several occasions.  Hal Blaine, the most recorded drummer in history, played with us at the Flamingo Hotel a few times. To sum it up, in my twenty some years in this county, I have played, and still play with many of the great musicians who live here.

     I now live in one of the most beautiful, scenic locations that I have ever seen.  The Russian River area of western Sonoma County, Ca. is a place with giant redwoods, gorgeous landscapes and lush vineyards.  I have recently married the woman of my dreams, bought a lovely home a quarter mile uphill from the Russian River, and live here with my wife and twelve year old son.  I couldn't be any happier. I keep up a schedule of thirty private students per week and play with a variety of local bands.  I am also teaching one day a week at the school in Fort Ross, Ca.  It's up the North Coast, a bit of a drive, but it's one of the most beautiful roads in California.  Not exactly what I would call a commute.

     My main group is called Metro.  I can honestly say that this is the best group I have ever played with.  We are a six piece band that plays many styles, including swing, jazz standards, R & B, and top forty.  The folks in Metro are all seasoned veterans and we have a great time playing together.  See links for the Metro web site.  Lenny Landry, the guitarist from Metro, and I also perform in a guitar and flute duo called  A Taste of Jazz. 

      It is with a very heavy heart that I have to update this biography. My best friend and brother musician, Lenny Landry, passed away on Jan. 3, 2002. It was totally unexpected. I had no idea he was even in the hospital. He went to have a minor heart procedure done and died from complications. I don't really know why I am including this here, I just felt that I wanted to. 

I knew and played with Lenny for over 12 years. We played a gig together for the first time in Kenwood, Ca. with Jim Boggio's Sonoma Swamp Dogs, and I knew at that point he would become a close friend and musical partner. It was just something I felt. He was like a big brother to me, even though he was seven years younger than me.  We shared some moments on stage that I will never forget. He was the greatest of guys, and he had a lust for life that all of those who knew him could attest to. He loved playing music, it was his whole life. Here is a photo of Lenny taken at the Peninsula Country Club, San Mateo, Ca. Dec 8th, 2001. It shows his complete and total joy and contentment at being on stage and playing his guitar. He lived for his music.    So long Lenny,  I love you, man.    R.I.P.

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