I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan in February of 1964 at 10 years old and that began my love of music from that single moment. I started playing guitar and drums later that year and have been a student of music ever since.
I believe that music is the greatest language on earth and tho I am not schooled in it's technicalities - I know it's history, it's influence, and can play it and write it with no shame or excuses.
I have had the great pleasure of being alive at a time to be able to hear recordings of Bird, Dizzy, Ella, Duke, Satchmo, Jobim, Getz, Brubeck, Miles, Wes, Chet Baker, Sandoval, Grappelli, Buzzy Feiten, Paul Butterfield, Jimi, Allman Bros., Sinatra, Art Tatum, Chet Atkins, Albert Lee, Larry Carlton, Hank Garland, Robben Ford, Stanely Jordan, Oscar Peterson....
...and have had the even greater pleasure of actually seeing greats in concert such as Paul McCartney, Tower of Power, Chicago, Cold Blood, Santana, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Return to Forever, Al Dimeola, John McGlaughin, Bobby Whitten, Brent Mason, Alan Jackson, Merle Haggard, Maynard Ferguson, Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Winter, Edgar Winter, Ringo Starr, Clapton, Huey Lewis, Joe Cocker, Eagles, Chuck Berry, Aerosmith, Temptations, Crosby Stills & Nash, War, Mana and others...
....My point...is that I have had great influences and love to hear the sounds of Brazil, Nashville, Atlanta, Italy, California, New York, Caribbean, just great music....
I was taught by my older brothers to learn and appreciate all styles of music. I chose to grow up on Blues, Beatles, Santana & Zeppelin. Yet, I lived in Nashville for six years and was Brenda Lee's guitar player for two years...and loved it....she is a wonderful lady and entertainer, and I learned a great deal from that experience.
I now write music that I hear in my head. Whether it comes from sounds on the road while driving, melodic chirping of birds, to sounds I actually hear just before drifting off to sleep....I write them down and record them as soon as I can to not let the song slip away.
My greatest inspiration is the love of my wife, Marta Alica, and family - children and grandchildren, as well as my incredible mother, and my dad, who passed away many years ago - but, I'm still doing the best I can with the tools I have to work with, dad.
So, I know this is like a letter to home, but, when they talk about 'old school' - they're talking about when I was a kid...so, this is me...I hope you'll take a listen to music I've been blessed with - and have written it and recorded is as best I can...and I hope you enjoy it....I just want to thank all those that I have listened to and enjoyed for so many years...God bless this language - music.
