I perform with many different creative musicians from around the country, but over the past few years I have been fortunate to be able to collaborate on a consistent basis with legendary improvisational music pioneers pianist Joel Futterman and drummer Alvin Fielder. I have also have collaborated in recent years with a local Bay Area creative music icon reed player and percussionist extradonaire Oluyemi Thomas.
Influences
My musical influences are quite diverse and almost too extensive to name. I also continually gain musically from all of the different musicians I collaborate with in variously configured ensembles. However, John Coltrane clearly is an integral influence. His deep emotionality and the boldness of his unrestrained spiritually guided explorations into new musical frontiers continues to inspire me. I have also gained enormously from the creative work of other saxophonists like Eric Dolphy, Albert Ayler, Sam Rivers, Edward "Kidd " Jordan, and Fred Anderson, as well as such giants as Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, and Dexter Gordon. Over the past several years pianist Joel Futterman has been a tremendous mentor as has drummer Alvin Fielder. I also gained much from listening to vocalists like Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Abby Lincoln, and Frank Sinatra who all were masters of vocal phrasing and telling a story through a song's lyrics. I n addition, I also draw upon the musical concepts of many of the 20th century and post-modern orchestral composers including Arnold Schoenberg, Bela Bartok, Gunter Schuller, Pierre Boulez. Steve Reich, and Hermeto Pascual.
Sounds Like
We all sound like someone before us, but the journey is discovering our own distinctive expressive voice.
