I began
learning guitar at the age of 12,
playing a nylon-string Goya
classical guitar. I taught myself
first position chords and barre
chords, and learned all my favorite
popular songs.
Just five
years later, I was playing guitar
professionally, performing as a
singer/songwriter on steel-string
acoustic in clubs in Chicago. Soon
after, I founded a rock band in San
Francisco, where I played lead
guitar and sang. For seven years, we
regularly played clubs and concerts
in the Bay Area.
During my
time in San Francisco, I attended
music school at San Francisco State
University and City College of San
Francisco, studying music theory,
music history, harmony, composition
and electronic music. In addition, I
studied jazz guitar for seven years
with Bill Connors, the first
electric guitarist in Chick Corea’s
groundbreaking group Return to
Forever.
At 27, I
formed my first progressive jazz
group. Soon after, I moved from San
Francisco to New York City with that
group where we performed in jazz
clubs all over the city. At the same
time, I was recruited as the lead
guitarist in a popular New York rock
band that performed regularly in
major rock clubs in the New York
area. During this period, I was
honored to be awarded a prestigious
National Endowment for the Arts
Fellowship for Jazz Composition.
In 1982, I
founded PATHFINDER RECORDS, a
progressive jazz and alternative
rock label. For eight years, I
produced more than 25 albums for
noted artists, including Bill
Connors, Richie Beirach, John
Abercrombie, Quest with Dave Liebman,
and Lene Lovich.
While in
NYC, I played with the progressive
jazz band THURSDAY GROUP, as well as
with rock bands REVERSE, the
TRANCESENDERS and BLUESOLE.
I recently
co-authored two music instruction
books:
The About.com Guide to Acoustic
Guitar
(Adams Media, 2006) and
The Everything Harmonica Book (Adams Media, 2008).
Throughout
my long career, I've always enjoyed
making time to provide private guitar
lessons to budding musicians and
guitarists looking to advance their
skills to the next level.
In 2007,
in search of sun, fun and, of
course, great music, I relocated
with my wife, Gabrielle, from New
York City to St. Petersburg,
Florida.
