My influences are: Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, Vince Guaraldi,
Dave Brubeck, Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans. From the Contemporary genre, it's Billy Joel, Elton John, Bruce Hornsby, Ben Folds and Barry Manilow ( yes Barry, If you want to hear some tasty Jazz chords, listen to "When October Goes".) and all of the great classical keyboard artists like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Lizst, etc.
Sounds Like
I've been told that I sound like a fusion of different Jazz players including Vince Guaraldi. I always take that as a big complement.
I’ve certainly had an interesting life in the music world. I started playing at the age of five in 1960. Playing the organ at local eateries when I was fifteen didn’t last too long. The organ became passe’ by the early 70s. Trying to score church gigs when you don’t have the experience (or the repertoire) didn’t really work either. So, I took some time away to re-group. I did eventually get back into the organ taking Classical instruction, and landed a couple of church gigs along the way. My organ teacher always told me I should “make friends with the piano.”
I managed to put that off until the early 80s when I went back to college. That’s when I met a real jazz player, Mickey Greco, who played with Woody Hermans’ band when he was nineteen. While in music school, I studied Jazz Impro with Mickey. Now I could earn my ‘bread and butter’ as he put it. Still, I wanted to be a better player, while everyone else was telling me that I would never make the transition from organ to piano. I didn’t have ‘piano hands’, they said. I proved them all wrong! Even if I couldn’t hold a coffee cup in the morning due to practice binges, I did it! In the 80’s I studied with concert artists at the Bay View Conservatory and performed in recital.
Along the way, I played every venue I could, including a country band gig at the “Galloping Goose” in Coolidge, Arizona, and yes, they had chicken wire in front of the stage! In the 90’s I played Jazz Festivals throughout Michigan and had my music aired on CMU Public Radio. This year, I accompanied acclaimed French Artist, Mathias DuHamel, in a live painting event at a local art gallery.
I hope you enjoy my music. It represents 20 years of formulating original musical thoughts and ideas. Each cut tells a story of its’ own if you listen with your imagination as well as your ears. It is indeed a pleasure to share my music. I also perform with the Latin/Rock group GOZON. You can find them on MySpace at/gozonmusic. This is a Smokin' Hot Group!
We are going to stay in this lease contract till' next April, then plan on making the perm big move to Alaska. No sense in a small move--when we both know where our hearts are-----Juneau!!!
A Tucson landmark has a new home tonight. The huge tiki head that once resided at a local miniature golf course is now being moved to a bar on 4th Avenue.
For a generation this concrete tiki head stood guard over the Magic Carpet miniature golf course. But last spring the course closed to make way for a car dealership. The Tiki, like many of the other statues, seemed doomed.
"They were part of a golf course, but they're also works of art," says Charlie Spillar.
Douglas 'Fini" Finical couldn't bear to see this treasured Tiki have a date with a wrecking ball. So instead he hired a crane.
"The first part of the move was crucial because we weren't really sure how it was going to act," he says.
This 45,000 pound piece of concrete is being moved to The Hut on 4th Ave. At a parade's pace, the Tiki is trucked across town...
The move wasn't easy. It wasn't fast. And it wasn't cheap-- costing more than $30,000.
"For future generations, they'll get to enjoy this work of art," Spillar says.
The Tiki gods must be looking down and smiling. Because even though this Tiki had its head cut off-- it lives on in a new home.
Hey There- We are pretty excited about you coming out for Christmas. We are doing quite a bit of decorating (all the decorations from the other place!) We will probably have some sort of Christmas Party...maybe jut the three of us since it's R rated. Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Hey there...finally have everything moved, found some black guy that looked like he needed some $$ and he moved everything for us! Really nice guy. GIve us a call when you get a chance, we were gonna call yesterday...buit Sundays are busy for you. We have the comcast triple play package so we have a new phone number for @ home too. High Speed internet is all hooked up. WE SWEAR we are never moving again! Too old for that crap! Hope MYa enjoyed her B-Day gifts we sent up with your mom-never heard anything from them. We also sent Brianna a baby-shower package. Please let us know her new # I know it changed again.
Online Now!
