Entry Number One - about Yours Truly

Hello friends, I suppose that it's about time for me to join the world of blogging, so here goes. This will be the first in a series of weekly ( or perhaps bi-weekly ) postings about myself and my band, The Swingsations, as well as other observations on life and music that you may find interesting. I welcome your comments, would love to hear from any of you who enjoy my group or if something I say appeals to you. First of all, a little about myself. I am originally from Missouri, was born and raised in the St. Louis area. I left there in 1989 to go on the road playing with the Russ Morgan Orchestra ( an old style "society" type big band ). I travelled throughout the country for about a year and a half - it was a good learning experience for me and I worked with many fine musicians. There is a virtue to being able to play the same tunes night after night and make them sound fresh and exciting. In the course of my travels I met my wife while the band was performing on a cruise ship ( yes, that's right ) and we decided to get married...so I relocated to California in 1990 and have been here ever since. We have two wonderful children - one is halfway through college already, and the other is about to go to college ( time sure does fly ). In the intervening twenty plus years I have managed to eke out something approaching a living playing the trumpet and teaching music - it's been rough at times, but I'm still hanging in there. I am very fortunate to perform quite often at Disneyland and also work with some very fine groups such as Dean Mora's Orchestras and Jonathan Stout's Campus Five. I can look back on many wonderful musical memories, with many more to come ( I do hope and pray ). I will close for now, and thank you for your consideration. More to come in the near future, about the band and the music I love and the great players who create it. Take care, everyone!

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