Both my parents loved jazz, so I grew up in a musical family where music was played constantly. I had my records and my Mom ( played classical piano through her 20s) had her jazz and latin records, everyone from Astrud Gilberto to Count Basie. I fell in love with big band music and anything with horns. Through this I learned to love jazz and would buy records by Blood Sweat & Tears, Chicago and the R&b artist that were popular. My dream was to have a band with a horn section. I tried a few times and failed terribly, by over writing and not having a enough experience doing it.
I moved to LA to be in the music business hopefully to be a rock-star. Ha! In my first month there I discovered a private music school that taught arranging and various other programs. I was so excited and started attending classes immediately. In the next few years I would have various versions of my own band that always included a horn section. Living in LA I was fortunate enough to have some great players who also played with notable artist you would know. Now in Portland, I currently work with two horn bands, one with two horns and one with five.
After moving back to the Northwest I started getting writer-for-hire gigs through various sources for mostly radio and Tv. Some clients were local, some were on the east coast. Both local media and national.