 Jeff comes from a musical family, and started piano when he was 5, but as he's also something of a klutz, by 5th grade, it was clear piano was out and saxophone was in, borrowing his uncle's alto sax until everyone was sure it'd "take". In the 35 years since, its pretty clear that it "took". Jeff's now in 3 bands (The Monroe Big Band, Soul Kitchen, and The Wells Street Jazz Project), playing soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone, and badly doubling on flute. He took private lessons from the late J. Michael Loveridge, who inspired generations of kids to enjoy playing in band. Jeff's also a reed and mouthpiece nut, having tried out over 45 different mouthpieces and a dozen brands of reeds in his quest for the perfect setup. Jeff also spent 2 high-school summers at the Henry Ford Community College Summer Jazz program learning from the best of the Detroit jazz scene. Jeff's a quiet personality most of the time, becomes a total ham on stage if you stick a horn in his mouth. Jekyl and Hyde aren't the only game in town! Jeff figured out pretty quick that the music biz is a tough, competitive way to make a living, and decided to go into computers rather than looking forward to living in a box. He worked for 7 years as a programmer and system administrator for R.L. Polk & Co. in Detroit, and then joined up as an IT professional with the University of Michigan Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He's currently the IT Supervisor for the Department of Mathematics, and helps various non-profits get up and running on the web and on the internet. Jeff's a programmer at heart, so you can often find him messin' with some snippet of PHP or shell script code when he's not blowin' a horn. Favorite Beverages: Diet Mountain Dew, Cranberry Juice, Starbucks' Mocha Frappacino (no whip), Corona (only after mowing grass) Favorite Movies: The Sting, V for Vendetta, Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Air America, Smokey and The Bandit Musical Influences: Billy Joel, Spyro Gyra, The Beatles, Cannonball Adderly, Michael Brecker, Phil Woods, Gerry Mulligan, Doug "Mr. Low" James, Roomful of Blues, Maceo Parker, Weather Report, Maynard Fergusen (and all bands), Woody Herman's Thundering Herd, Tower of Power, Steely Dan, Charlie "The Bird" Parker, The Black Crowes, Van Halen, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Pink, and lots of other folks... |
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