I feel extremely grateful for the gift and vehicle of music and have been truly blessed to work at what I love so much. I started playing music in Port Chester, NY in 1963 on bugle and piccolo; I added the C flute soon after and some years later, the alto and bass flutes; The most recent additions to my "peaceful arsenal" are among the elders, so to speak, of the flute family: shakuhachi (the plural of shakuhachi is also shakuhachi), an end-blown bamboo flute that came to Japan through China and believed by some to have originated in Egypt; and lastly, alto shakulute, a recently developed hybrid flute with a shakuhachi mouthpiece on the alto flute (seen in my pics), the first of which, after the prototype, was made for me by my friend and renowned shakuhachi maker, Monty Levenson in his solar and hydro-powered workshop in Willits, California. My love for the alto saxophone came in my late teens and was later followed by the tenor, soprano, baritone and finally sopranino.I play a wide range of music and am grateful to be surrounded by a circle of beautiful, soulful and creative people here in Miami and around the world. After years as a sideman, I co-produced "Wind and Strings for Yoga" in 2004, a live flute(s), guitar and cello recording made at St. Saviour's Church in Bar Harbor, Maine with Jon Dichter (guitar) and Monica McIntyre (cello). You can hear it at cdbaby.com/cd/jondichter3 People have told me that it puts them to sleep, which pleases me! I also play soprano saxophone and sing lead vocal on "Judgement Day" with Wackiavelli (Wackiavelli.com and myspace.com/Wackiavelli), a politically and socially-minded band formed in December '04 by original Mandrill guitarist, Omar Mesa. Now in rotation on Satellite Radio's XM76 Fine Tuning, "Judgement Day" is Reggae/World with a poignant rap, exposing the hypocrisy and corruption of an Administration that has wrought severe havoc and destruction. To quote the song, "some praise the flag yet burn the Constitution... while democracy's in danger of total ruin." You can hear a clip and read the lyrics at Wackiavelli.com and hear all the songs on the CD, "No Justice, No Peace" at myspace.com/Wackiavelli
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If the above elicits a strong response, as it does in me, speak and act for peace.
