Born: September 3, 1940 Primary Instrument: Sax, tenor
Born in New York, grew up in the “Sugar Hill” section of Harlem where close neighbors were such legends as Johnny Hodges,Sonny Rollins, Jackie Mc Lean,Kenny Burrell and many others.Started playing piano at the age of 6. In high school, started playing flute, and later the clarinet.Was influenced to the saxophone after hearing Sonny Stitt, John Coltrane, Johnny Griffen and of course Charlie Parker.Started playing the tenor sax, but quickly added the alto, soprano, baritone and sopranino.Studied privately withJoe Allard,Garvin Bushell and Anders Paulson. Began playing professionally with the groups of Milford Graves,Charles Tyler,Beaver Harris, Andrew Cyrille,The Master Brotherhood,Ted Curson,Steve Reid,Ted Daniel&Energy,Diane McIntyre's Sounds in Motion,Ras Moshe,Sabir Mateen's big band, and his own band Dynasty. Graduated from the College of Staten Island with a Bachelors degree in Music with a minor in Music education.Taught instrumental music with the New York City Board of Education from 1989-2004, and was teacher of the year(Music)in 1996. Retired from teaching in 2004.Moved to Philadelphia in 2008. Currently performs with many artists in the U.S., and in Europe.
Awards:
Teacher of the year (Dist.30)Disclaimer: All About Jazz is not responsible for the accuracy of the discographical data at the website(s) provided. If a link is no longer valid, please contact discography@allaboutjazz.com. Thank you.
