I was first exposed to jazz as a child and I wanted to be excellent at singing for as long as I remember. Born and raised just east of Pittsburgh, family lore says that just shy of my third birthday I corrected my grandfather’s off-key rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” insisting, “It goes like this.” My real education came when I studied jazz with ECM/George Martin produced stars Oregon: Ralph Towner, Glen Moore, and especially the late Colin Walcott, who blew my mind teaching rhythm that summer at Naropa Institute in Boulder, CO. The friends I made there asked me to sing in Montreal. My first demo recording led to an appearance at the 2nd International Festival du Jazz de Montréal, a significant early achievement that brought me into the professional arena. The band included Sylvain Gagnon, Michel Dubeau and James Gelfand, all with vibrant jazz careers today. We did amazing songs like "Icarus" together (they gave me full rein) and I used a digital delay live onstage in 1983. I experimented a lot with my 4 and 1/2 octave range, and my range is still something I am thankful for today. My standard skills were honed finely when I met Tom Coppola. I came out of the audience to sit in with the band for one song in Asheville where he was leading a jam at Barley's Tap Room. I sang "It Could Happen To You," I think, and we swung like crazy. Coppola was immediately impressed with my style, and he gently tapped me, looked into my eyes and said, "we should work together." I was happy but I declined, saying I was too busy with other obligations at the time. I called him a few months later, he had moved. Upon one more surprise visit to a Barley’s Taproom jam, Coppola was visiting Asheville and performing. This time we teamed up.