Story

EARLY INFLUENCES AND THE JOURNEY FORWARD...

You might say I'm a person with an eclectic musical background. My Dad was a flight mechanic by trade. However, he was also a conservatory trained musician. His father was a tailor by trade but was also a musician. A composer who played clarinet and led his own band. When I was six years old I decided I wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to see what was out there. Although my dad supported my dream of space travel I was continuously exposed to music by him. He listened to classical music and opera. He also played Brazilian choros on flute and brought home Beatles records. My brother Tony, who was seven years my senior, listened to doo wop then British invasion bands and psychedelic rock. My sister Ana, nine years older, listened to Motown, girl groups and American pop including singers like Nat King Cole and Brazilian pop like Elis Regina, samba and bossa nova. I played the guitar from the time I was eight years old and explored all the music I was surrounded by in the house. Though I always jammed with older friends who were in local bands, I joined my first rock band when I was fifteen. I got deep into bands like the Beatles, Yardbirds, Kinks, Cream then Hendrix. When the Woodstock album came out it was a goldmine for me. CSNY, the Who and of course Santana all blew my mind. A little later it was Zeppelin and prog rockers like Yes and ELP. After that I learned every note Dicky and Duane played on the Live At The Fillmore album. Their ability to improvise fascinated me. As I write this it hits me how I just couldn't get enough music. My dad, my hero, had passed away suddenly when I was twelve. I guess music was a sanctuary for me. I couldn't get enough of it.  At 16 I was seduced by jazz and now I began to study privately. I could no longer wait until I was old enough to go into outer space.  I went inward instead of outward to search for a path towards the mysteries of the universe, truth, adventure and inner peace. I consumed books and music voraciously and continued my music studies after high school. Now there was more jazz. A lot more jazz. Then deep into R&B, and Salsa. More study of the guitar, followed along with a stint at Juilliard to study orchestral conducting then voice end even acting as I was asked to join Actors Equity in order to sing and play a first national tour of a Broadway show.

I had started my career as an artist writing and arranging my own tunes for a band of wonderful musicians. By the time I moved into Manhattan at 22 years old I was ready for just about any style of popular music that came my way. I worked in every aspect of the business from clubs to weddings and bar mitzvahs, corporate events, studio work and Broadway shows. Now, like a frog in a pot, I slowly and unwittingly began to take a turn in the direction of becoming a professional "gun for hire" instead of a creative artist. I continued to do some writing as an arranger and also began producing after building my own studio in the early 2000's. The gigs got more and more high profile. Better venues, bigger names and of course better pay. But I never felt that I had contributed as much as I had to offer. 

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So, in 2006 I began to conceive a show that would become an umbrella for all of the different styles of music I love so much. In addition it would be a multi media experience. I could work all the muscles I had built over a varied 35 year career in music and theater. I called it the New Deco® Orchestra. One hell of a 20 piece band that grew into a brand.