I play a variety of instruments, and I play a lot of different musical styles. This has led me into some unusal situations; get a comprehensive list of interesting gigs I've played here.
This page is dedicating to recalling some notable past experiences. Click on these links to jump to your choice.
Here's my version of Virgo by Wayne Shorter
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I was a founding member of the group Breckerville, a group dedicated to the music of Randy and Michael Brecker. From September 2012 to July 2015 we did some flame-throwing concerts as an electric quintet. The group featured me on synthesizers, Bob Ferguson on trumpet, fluegelhorn, and FX, Carl Cox on tenor sax, Andy Lalasis on electric bass, and Vic Stevens on drums.
Here's a short video of my piano solo on the tune "Nothing Personal" filmed at The Firehouse Cafe in Mounty Holly, NJ on January 22. 2015.
click to play "Nothing Personal"
Here's audio of a complete performance of "Song for Barry".
click to play "Song for Barry"
Here's a performance of "Not Ethiopia" from Chris's Jazz Cafe on July 18, 2014.
click to play "Not Ethiopia"
Here's a performance of "Oops" from Sandi Pointe, Somers Point, NJ on May 18, 2014.
click to play "Oops"
And here's a performance of "Some Skunk Funk" from one of our first studio recordings in December 2012.
click to play "Some Skunk Funk"
In 2016 I transcribed and arranged a lot of Weather Report tunes and put together a group consisting of Saxophonist Mike Cemprola, bassist Chico Huff, drummer Anwar Marshall, and me. It was an amazing experience to recreate these classic tunes from a group I loved, but we never made it to public performance with the project when we lost Mike to the U.S. Air Force (who offered him a lifetime gig) and I found the world wasn't exactly screaming for a Weather Report tribute band. Things happen. Here's your only chance to see what could have been.
click here to see a rehearsal of "Mysterious Traveler"
click here to see a rehearsal of "Black Market"
I've played in piano trios and quartets with some of the hottest players around. Here's a version of Steve Swallow's Let's Eat featuring Chris Farr on sax, Howie Thompson on bass, and Joe Nero on drums.
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I was on guitarist Jimmy Bruno's "Midnight Blue" album and spent a lot of time at Chris's Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia playing with him. Here's a bootleg recording of "Eternal Triangle" from October 3, 1998 featuring Jimmy and me along with unknown bass and drums.
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Over the years I've played on stage with name acts such as Joni Mitchell, Aretha Franklin, Andrea Bocelli, Il Divo, Mary Wilson and the Supremes, and many others. Here's a link to a list of popular artists I've had the honor to play with.
On July 4, 1994, several hundred thousand people crammed the Philadelphia Parkway as Smokey Robinson played on the steps of the Art Museum. Channel 6 Action News provided live coverage of a gig I'll never forget.
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This footage from C-Span shows me soloing for the amusement of our corporate masters.
Hey, it was a gig.
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Here's footage from an Atlantic City telethon on February 10, 1985. Karen DeVito sings before a quartet of me, Vince Colella, Chico Huff, and Kevin Ewalt.
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I've always had a love for classical music and once in a while I'm giving the opportunity to perform in that world. Classical musicians are the specialists in the musical field and by embracing other styles I can be seen as an interloper when joining them; My goal is to function well in the limited role I'm given, secure in the knowledge that they can't do other things that I have more control over! Here's some peeks into this aspect of my playing:
Here's a link to the website for the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, an orchestra with whom I've played in the last couple of years. Our John Williams concert in the spring of 2023 was one of the most challenging concerts I've ever done, but I'm proud to play with musicians of the caliber that populate this group. If you're in the Scranton/ Wilkes Barre area, try to catch one of their concerts and be amazed.
Here's a link to the website for the Southeast Pennsylvania Symphony Orchestra, for which I've been the pianist and electronic keyboardist (for celeste, cannonfire in the 1812, etc.) since 2008. Music Director Allan Scott is a forward-thinking leader under whose direction we've played symphonies by Ives, Gorecki, Copland and other modernists in addition to the traditional repertoire. You don't expect a local symphony to be performing such things and my musical horizons have broadened having these oppotunities.
I'm occasionally asked to provide musical textures via synthesizers for this world-reknown organization. It's an amazing experience to be on stage and hear this angelic vocal texture all around you! My latest visit was on June 7, 2015, when we played at Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
Back in 2003 I was asked to perform the John Adams "Chamber Symphony" and Copland's "Music for Theatre" with this wonderful orchestra. Turns out John Adams shipped them a data disc for a Kurzweil synthesizer as part of the composition and they didn't know what to do with it and called me in. It was a musical challenge that turned out to be filmed in the rehearsals by the ABC newscast "20/20". They had an agenda and I learned a lot about how the media distorts the events to fit that agenda; here's a clip:
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Be sure to check out our website for a lot more on this project. Briefly, I play accordion with Allan Slutsky on mandolin and a top-drawer acoustic bass; we play Fritz Kreisler material, light classics, film music, tangos, Italian favorites and more with the ambiance of a European café group.
Most of my classical playing happens at home, playing solo piano. Here's a taste of Debussy's 1st Arabesque:
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Starting in high school I've played musical shows. Working in Atlantic City in the 1980's gave me the chance to do it for a living. In addition to countless industrial shows, musical revues, and other kinds of shows, here's a list of the staged musicals that I've been involved with, playing synthesizer, rehearsal piano, arranging, programming, conducting, and/or musically directing.
I no longer teach, but I spent many years giving private lessons to students of all ages, and most notably spent over two decades on the faculty of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. You can get full details on this page: Teaching experience
