In the 70s, I was in a band from Ann Arbor called Sky King. We signed with Columbia Records and released the LP "Secret Sauce" in 1975. This album was mostly recorded in Memphis w/ Steve Cropper, and finished in New York, where I then lived for two years on West 82nd Street. Sky King recorded a second album for Columbia, but unfortunately, it was not released--we got fired (we had a 5-album contract)! Sky King was a great band that played a high-energy funk/fusion style of rock. Members included Chris Brubeck (son of jazz legend Dave Brubeck), harmonica virtuoso Peter "Madcat" Ruth, and drummer Richie Morales, who later went on to play with Ray Baretto, Gato Barbieri, Spyrogyra, Grover Washington and Mike Stern. Sky King performed a number of times with "Two Generations of Brubeck". This gave me the opportunity to jam live on stage with Dave Brubeck in some large venues in different parts of the country. Dave is the nicest guy, and it was a real treat to be able to play some blues with him!
In 1977 I moved back to Michigan, and teamed up with bass player Randy Tessier. (Randy has more recently been with George Bedard & the Kingpins for several years.) We had three different bands over a period of years into the 80s. The first was called Incognito--this was a quartet with guitar, bass, drums, and saxophone, with me also playing clarinet. After Sky King, I wanted to get away from the funk thing. Incognito was heavily influenced by "outside jazz". This was something that I got involved in when I was living in New York (1975-6, when we were with Columbia). I was spending a lot of time with the maestro of the clarinet, Perry Robinson. Perry was in Darius Brubeck's band, and through him, I spent a good amount of time hanging out with players in the NY avant-garde jazz scene--this really opened up my approach to music... Anyway, Incognito had a weekly gig at the jazz club Cobb's Corner in Detroit, and played in Ann Arbor a lot as well. Eventually, Incognito ran its course, and we formed a band called The Lepers that played mainly original rock tunes by Randy and some jazz/rock instrumentals that I wrote. The Lepers gradually evolved into The Private Sector, which played blues and rock covers.
During the 80s in Detroit I also played in the group Stratanova, led by drummer Leonard King. This was another group that played outside jazz. Members included Jaribu Shahid, Faruk Z. Bey, and Donald Washington. Playing with Stratanova was wild!
Another guy whose band I have played with is the drummer/percussionist Muruga. Again, the Brubeck connection--I met Muruga when he was in Darius' band. I have done a lot of gigs with Muruga over the years, and it is always "totally out".
In the early 90s, I was in a really good blues band in Detroit--Nikki James and the Flamethrowers. Nikki is a great female blues singer, and was really kicking ass in Detroit for several years. Unfortunately, she has not been on the scene much lately (hey--it happens to the best of us!). The Flamethrowers had a lot of great players that went through the band--I played with guitar players Pat Shanley, Chris Natho, Dave Mazzara, Frank LeMara, Ray Goodman, and Chris Brantley--all strong players--it was great to be in a band with a smokin' two-guitar attack! Other Flamethrowers included bassist John Fraga (from the Rockets), as well as bassist Mike Hollis and drummer Martin "Tino" Gross, now with the Howling Diablos.
I'm now working as a high school art teacher, so I'm basically too busy to gig on a regular basis (especially during the school year), but I still enjoy playing out when the opportunity arises. I'm a lot more available in the summer, for fill-ins or whatever.
I still really dig playing blues, funk, etc. but lately my main musical interests have been going in some different directions (ambient, trip-hop, etc.-- more keyboards and synths, but still some guitar). If you are interested to hear what that is about, you can check out my other music page, Ambient Anomaly (link below).
The songs posted here are from my demo recording "The Blues and Beyond", recorded in the summer of 2003. This recording was made entirely on my Macintosh computer, using Pro Tools through a Digidesign M-Box. A Line 6 Pod was used for all guitars, Sansamp Bass Driver DI for bass, and a Zoom Rhythmtrack 123 for drums. I hope you dig the tunes!
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