My History

I  began my musical journey at a very early age, I would say I was all of 3 when I was smitten with the urge to perform. My Mother put me into dance school, The Tara Sisters School of Dance located in my home town of Hawthorne New Jersey.  My Sister, Linda, was already taking piano lessons so the piano was right there in the living room. I would dance along to her lessons and then started sitting at piano and picking out songs. By age five I could play a bunch of old songs. At age nine I was finally given lessons. I mastered the lesson books in one year. By the time I was ten I was playing enough piano to start accompaning my Mom and Dad, they both sang. My first teacher was a man by the name of Mr. Holland. He would come once a week, smoke cigarettes, drink coffee and bark instructions while sitting behind me on a dining room chair. I put up with that for a few years, studied classical mainly. Then came Jim Russililo. He was a professional pianist. He got me on track with reading from fake books, learning current songs, singing along with the music, all of the things I had been waiting to learn. He was my teacher straight thru to my college days. 

After High School I attended Berklee School of Music in Boston. That's when I met Ray Santisi. He was my piano teacher at Berklee. Great guy, he taught you things that would get you gigs. My improv teacher was the famous bass player,  Major Holley.  He showed me the way into the music business. I had a connection with him since I had taken private  lessons at Julliard with the famous Teddy Wilson, they were friends and had done many great performances and recording sessions together, most known for recfordings with Buddy Goodman.  From there I was prepared to be a pianist, musical director and entertainer. I went on to studying music at The University of Miami. The music program was ran by Will Lee's father, Doctor William Franklin Lee III.  I left after a few semesters to become a Band Leader working for The Norwegian Cruise Line.  I did the ships for a few years and landed back in New Jersey. I immediately scored a great gig as the pianist at Danny's Hideaway in NYC. The resturant was owned by Frank Sinatra. I was there 6 nights a week and played for all of the stars that dined there constantly.  I became friends with many interesting people, Don Rickles, Glenn Ford, Doris Day, Ernest Borgnine, Mitchell Parish, Sammy Davis Jr, Milton Bearle, Ed Sullivan, Tony Williams, Jack Parr to name a very few.   I've had a really good time in show business! As I always say, Music is the gift that keeps on giving.