biography page 3
Learning tunes in prison was a strange, even bizarre process. We jazz lovers were really hungry for new music and the radio was our only access to it. Every week we were given only one-half hour to listen to jazz on the radio. So we developed a process to collectively learn new tunes.
Whenever we heard something unfamiliar that we liked, each of us — often up to 20 of us — learned as much of the tune as possible. The next day we would meet in the yard with a guitarist and painstakingly attempt to put the fragments of melody, chords, and lyrics together. Sometimes it took several months to re-create a single tune.
In 1986, after 40 years of drug addiction, I finally got into a program of drug and alcohol recovery, which led me to the "day job" I love program planning, development, training, and creating a successful health education lecture series I call: The Art And Practice Of Living Well. This work is as important to me as music. The lecture series has been a positive influence on hundreds of people. For me that work is all about joy and appreciation of our individual gifts.
My first full-length CD was a long time coming. I had the privilege to make that recording with a remarkable ensemble of New York and Bay Area musicians. Life has been good to me! We think this record is pretty special. The songs are some of the most beautiful I have ever known. Most of them have haunted me since I first heard them many years ago. I am so pleased to be able to share my rendition of these wonderful tunes with you. I hope you enjoy listening to them as much as I do singing them.
