Jimmy with legend Sonny Rollins. |
Musical Background:
How did you
become interested in music?
I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t drawn to music. I decided I
wanted to play saxophone in 4th grade, when I saw “Better
Off Dead”, where John Cusack’s character serenaded the French exchange
student. I had a kiddie crush on these two girls in school who played
sax too, so I was inspired. I missed signups in 4th and
broke my hand in 5th, so I had to wait until 6th
grade to start, but I really wanted it by then. (Update: I watched
the movie again last year, after almost 20 years and I was shocked to
discover that Cusack’s sax was an overdubbed synth. I told my wife
that my whole career was built on a lie!)
What genre
of music did your parents listen to or play when you were younger?
I grew up in the 80’s, so I could list music for days, all the way
from Peter Gabriel to Michael Jackson to Bel Biv DeVoe. Three of the
first tunes I can recall consciously hearing were Hall & Oates’ “Maneater”,
the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” (the video scared me), and Billy Joel’s
“Uptown Girl”.
Did any of
your parents or family members play an instrument? My dad
played guitar briefly, and my grandfather would randomly bring home
instruments to learn and fool around with. That was all before my
time, though, but I guess the impulse was in the blood, and I just
took it further.
What was
your favorite song when you were a child? For a good
while, “LaBamba” (I’d play air guitar) and “Tequila” (air sax) were up
there as favs.
Who were/are
some of your teachers? Gayane Korkmazian, Gary Lipe, Dan
Zanutto (with whom I’ve re-connected at CSULB), Key Poulan, Paul
Shaghoian, Mark Bacciarini, Allan Kristensen, Mark Ribera, Mike Dana,
Larry Honda, Gary Foster, Kenny Burrell, Harold Land, Billy Higgins,
Tom Ranier, Bobby Rodriguez, Doug Masek, Bill Liston, Sal Lozano, Jay
Mason, and Jeff Jarvis. And myself (all these teachers equipped me
for being my own teacher).
Who are some
notable artists you’ve performed/recorded with?
Jeff Jarvis, Conrad Herwig, Bob Sheppard, Bobby Shew, Bobby Rodriguez,
Ingrid Jensen, Roberto Miranda, Jimmy Haslip, Dan St. Marseille, and
A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys. |
