Born in the home of PT Barnum, Bridgeport CT. No wonder. Raised on '30s and '40s big band (mom); modern jazz (Brubeck, Jamal, Kenton) (dad); Broadway (mom/dad); classical and opera (dad); rock'n'roll (mom). But arguably the best music that found its way to my ears was via cartoons, not least of which were the Betty Boop's I devoured.
By eight, I wanted to play piano. The folks got me a violin. Cheaper, smaller...harder... A little reflection would have revealed that nobody composes and arranges on the violin. One's options are limited. Be a virtuoso. Play in an orchestra. Teach. Aha. But my thinking was, if you have something to fall back on, you will fall back on it.
I took up guitar at 14 and blundered through of a couple kid bands. Then, in high school, I got with a bunch of folksy-rootsy types, Dusty Matthews' "Pennywhistle." We were pretty good, played Gertie's Folk City, the Bitter End, some good gigs, but most of all, we worked our asses off and we had a blast. But when graduation came, we went our separate ways.
Shunning college and the safe, predictable life my parents wanted for me, I turned on, tuned in, and, at the stroke of 18, hit the road. Sex, drugs, living on the street, on the edge: headed out of Alphabet City for warmer climes; passed the hat in New Orleans bars (Buster Holmes' red beans and rice kept me alive), panhandled in the Haight; cosmic cowboys, busking, tarot cards, yoga, non-stop terror & exhilaration, oh Atlanta, fell in love with Anchorage; opened a hip eatery in beautiful Portland, where my daughter was born; et cetera--and music, always.
Then one day, at a crossroads, I met Terry Waldo and everything changed. He played records and it all came back to me. Hot jazz, traditional jazz, ragtime, my earliest musical inspirations. Home. Where I was supposed to be. (My paternal grandmom, a flapper!, taught me The Darktown Strutters' Ball and Alexander's Ragtime Band when I was still in the high chair.) We worked together on and off for twelve stormy years, as a duo, in various bands and combos, in big orchestras, multi-media shows, radio and tv; about eight records, though I forget their names. They're all out of print, I assume.
The apex and end of this phase was a performance at Carnegie Hall in the mid-'80s. After that, I saw fit to retire. I'd "made my mark," worked with some truly great players, and had the time of my life.
That's all in the past. It's been tucked away for so long I have friends who have no idea this was ever part of my life. Why come out now? Well, the few who do know have given me lots of encouragement. MySpace makes it so easy. And then, there's my latest passion: the ukulele.
I play (well, maybe "play" is the wrong word) a Lanikai tenor with a pickup, and I'm learning a bit of music theory and chord construction, on a rudimentary level. I've put together a chord book with over 2500 chord diagrams, color-coded and evathang. With it I can copy and paste into lyric files I set up in Publisher to create charts--great learning aids for a beginner like me. I'm getting a little carried away with it, though. At this point I have over 300 charts more or less completed, and a start on 500 more.
From time to time, I'll be posting background info about the songs on my jukebox in the blog, along with the occasional chart with lyrics and chords. Free. Can't guarantee that the chords will be "spelled" right, but I stand by my work as far as a servicable version of the song is concerned.
I guess now is the time to clearly state that the aforementioned charts are entirely the fruits of my own efforts to piece together coherent versions of the songs I love, and are not meant to be used in any professional way.
Enjoy.
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