Hi! I’m a long time jazz fan and occasional Chicago-area musician (trumpet/flugelhorn). I began playing trumpet about 1962 as a grade-school student. By my Senior year at Downers Grove South Highschool I was a member of five different music organizations: Marching Band, Chamber Band, Orchestra, Jazz Band and various brass ensembles.
I was in two chicago area “Garage-Rock Bands” during the late 1960’s namely, CENTURA (led by Bob Siebert of Westmont, IL) and a band I started named EMANON. These were 6 or 7 piece bands that covered music by Earth, Wind and Fire / Blood, Sweat and Tears / Chicago as was popular at the time. In the early 1970’s I was a member of the U.S. Navy Drum & Bugle Corps and also assigned as the bugler at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, California. I also did duty as part of the Color Guard for funeral details at the Brunswick Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine. I was a member of the Bath Municipal Band in Bath, Maine and played at many ceremonial ship-launchings at the Bath Iron Works there.
After the service, I joined a big band named The JKQ Swing Band and played until the late 1980’s. More recently I was a member of an all-original jazz/blues/pop band named TIMMS SISTER’S BAND led by Chicago-area jazz vocalist/lyricist Catherine Whitney. I have played with several Chicago-area jazz musicians such as drummers Isham “Rusty” Jones (of George Shearing fame), Johnnie Faren and Freddy Sontag; pianists Johnny Gabor and Richard Drexler; bassists Kelly Sommers and Ron Overcash; guitarists Richie Mars and Clay Travis; The Barry Winograd Trio (sax) and vocalist Catherine Whitney.
My favorite all-time horn musician is the late jazz-ballad cornetist Bobby Hackett who had played with Glenn Miller’s Band and then in later years was featured as a soloist on several albums of The Jackie Gleason Orchestra. More current trumpet artist favorites of mine are Rick Braun and Chris Botti. Other jazz favorites of mine are trumpeters Miles Davis, Corey Wilkes; pianists George Shearing, Tommy Muellner, Jose Valdes, Ben Paterson; saxophonists Von Freeman and John Coltrane.
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