I started my musical studies at age 5 by taking drum lessons, I was certain that my place in the world would be that of a jazz drummer. Watching television as a child, it was Leonard Bernstein who best captured and redirected my imagination with his Young People’s Concerts broadcasts in the early 1960s. At the time, my musical training shifted from the drumset to the xylophone, with classical music summer camps augmenting my weekly lessons. Looking back, I realize that I never had the necessary discipline to find my voice in the classical realm. Improvisation, and making music feel good, was a perfect avenue for my particular talents, if not an escape hatch of sorts. Jazz and other contemporary improvised music suited me. Add opportunity to the story (when I went on the road to begin my true schooling in music,) and my true calling as an itinerant sideman […]

February 2024 Issue