I was born and raised in Philadelphia . My father and mother were my earliest musical influences . Dad played guitar and harmonica and mom sang jazz and named me after the song 'Saint James Infirmary ', which was a hit for Louis Armstrong in the '50's. We had an upright player piano that my two older sisters were proficient on and it was my introduction to bass guitar . I would open the top and pluck the strings when I was six. My parents and three older siblings all had large record collections that were also an influence and I would play everything from Benny Goodman to Jimi Hendrix !The blues were a constant in this musical stream and always stayed with me. I had access to guitar, piano, and harmonica in the early days and am entirely self taught. Highschool years were my harmonica growing period and I spent many of those YEARS jamming with my friends and fellow harpists Dave Purtle, Joe Simon, Jackie Lyons, and Bill Martin. Bill and I called ourselves 'The Blues Brothers'... Jeb and Willis Reed , eight years before some guys in New York Stole It ! :) We listened to, saw shows, and learned harp from Charlie Musselwhite, Little and Big Walter, Magic Dick, Lee Oscar, Sonny Terry, SonnyBoy Williamson,Junior Wells, Carrie Bell, and many others. I played with Junior at one of his gigs inside the bathroom ! Another time I was sitting at the bar with Carrie Bell and sang "don't get around much anymore' while he played harp ! How cool is that ?In the early eighties I named, played with and helped establish the Sister Blue Band. At the same time I was one of the founding members of the J.B. Rhythm Band. These bands were instrumental in keeping the blues alive in the tri-state area of Philadelphia,New Jersey, and Delaware and were the opening act for The Ko Ko Taylor Band , Albert Collins & The Icebreakers , The Steve Guyger Band and many others as well as being the backup band for Sonny Rhodes and Steve Guyger on a couple of occasions. During this time I also played with Randy Lippincott, Maury 'Hooter" Saslaff, and Chet Woodward who were members of The Big Jack Johnson Band and Luther Guitar Junior and the Magic Rockers as well as the late, great, Paul "Dutch" Holland who was friends and sat in with Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Moving on, I played bass and harmonica with Alicia Levy and the Alica Electr ic band, Stinger, Shake Dancer,Smoke Stack Lightning, the B.B Klein band,Wade Shuman, Seth 'Zep Harpo' Holzman and many,many others. I also play Bluegrass harmonica and am an active member of the Holmesburg Jam. It is the oldest jam of its kind in the world and is one that anyone can attend. www.holmesburgjam.com I have been happily married for eight years and have one daughter, Rachael , and four stepchildren, Bill, Chris, Matt, and Michelle. Lets not forget my little Robert', Row-Bear for you non french speaking folks. He is unconditional love wrapped in a fur coat.div style="position:absolute;right:0px;top:0px;"Create or get your
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