According to my mother, as a toddler I would stop whatever I was doing if music was playing and put my head against the stereo speaker in total amazement of what I was hearing. So, music was indeed my first love. I started playing trumpet in the fourth grade. I heard it on a record when I was eight or nine, and it was love at first sound. My parents wanted me to play the saxophone but I was determined to play the trumpet. My father also plays the trumpet, so I’m sure without even realizing it I was being influenced by him. My good friend and brother Walter Beasley and I used to drive around in my car in high school and listen to George Duke, Ronnie Laws, Earth, Wind, and Fire, the Stylistics, Motown, Charlie Parker, Grover Washington, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Tower of Power, and anything else we could get our hands on. We were hungry!!
I grew up in El Centro, California. Yes, I know, a small town with very little culture, but that void was filled by my father who was the high school band director at Central High. The great thing about growing up in a small town is that the local folks support everything you do. By the time I reached High School the band program had been long established as the place to be. We had a Concert Band, Jazz Band, Orchestra, Pep Band, and a Rock Combo. I played in them all.
My father is my musical mentor, and quite frankly the greatest man known to me. After graduating from Central High, I attended Imperial Valley College and then transferred to San Diego State University where I earned a Bachelors Degree in Music Education, and a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies.
I have served as Director of Jazz Studies at Chicago State University, and I’m currently employed in the same capacity at Grossmont College.
This is a sample of some of the great musicians and teachers I’ve had the pleasure of working with and learning from:
Clark Terry, Christian McBride, John Faddis, Hubert Laws, Charles McPherson, Bill Russo, Hal Crook, Rick Helzer, Bill Yeager, Dr. Eddie Meadows, Daniel Jackson, Felton Offard, Walter Beasley, Kamau Kenyatta
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