My life has been dedicated to music as a musician, composer, arranger and teacher. Music is the best way to hear and create a common consciousness. Since childhood, my love for music and passion has been with us. As a child, I began taking ukulele lessons in Honolulu (Hawaii), where I was born. I began playing the guitar at age 11 after being inspired by Jimi Hendrix’s innovative and creative style. In high school, I was captivated by the unique harmonies of jazz and changed my musical direction. During my college years at UC Berkeley, I started to study and play jazz seriously. First on the guitar and then on the saxophone, and finally on the trumpet. However, my instrumental epiphany happened while I was completing my Master’s degree in Composition at CSU Hayward. I was captivated by the endless possibilities and sounds of the bass and fell under its spell. My main instruments are the acoustic as well as electric basses. Since then, I have studied bass with Alex Glickman and Frank Tusa as well as Carl Stanley and Brian Marcus. Timothy Spears is currently my teacher. After receiving my M.A. I worked hard to pursue my professional career. For several years, I was a member of The Zone’s jazz quintet. It was here that I composed most of the music for their first CD, Grand Canyon Blue. I also performed on the soundtrack to the movie Lifeline (KQED, December 1999) and was a member for two years of the Diablo Symphony Orchestra. Along with these projects, my time was spent leading my own trio, trio, or quintet, as well as teaching jazz history at Berkeley City College, the Hayward-La Honda music camp, and in jazz band/improvisation at UC Berkeley. In 2003, my first solo CD Learning Curve was made available to an open audience at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland. My second solo CD, New Day, was released in December 2006 at The Jazz School in Berkeley. The highly successful concert was recorded and broadcast by KCSM’s Sunday Night Series (91.1 FM). The CD received considerable airplay on KCSM (91.1 FM), the Bay Area’s top jazz station, KSDS in San Diego and WGBH (89.7 FM).
