EDUCATION
As I begin this, I recognize that it is an arbitrary rule to withhold education before college however I believe my lessons and programs and my way of utilizing them helped greatly to enhance my perspective in music. I have had an education, with much gratitude, that is quite vast: while growing up in NJ I regularly studied at Jazz House Kids and NJPAC Jazz For Teens that have earned reputation as some of the most distinguished music education and performance programs. I studied with a lot of outstanding musicians there such as Steve Johns, Alvester Garnett, Bruce Williams, Julius Tolentino, Mike Lee, Billy Hart, to name a few, and performed in many small ensembles and big bands where musicians like Joe Lovano were featured. In addition, I attended many of the east coast summer jazz programs like Litchfield Workshop, Jazz in July, Stokes Music and Redbank Jazz Workshop. NJ is interesting because a lot of the jazz and touring musicians live there and commute to NY so NJ actually has a live scene. Because of this, I regularly went to the jam sessions hosted by Mike Lee, Cecil Brooks and Radam Schwartz where I really learned how to play in actuality and with some great musicians. Intensive and extended solo practice and having these pretty intense jam sessions were what taught me the most at this time. After these years, New England Conservatory in Boston was where I then spent my years to earn a BA in Jazz studies. I studied with everyone I possibly could for drums and percussion, performance and composition namely: Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, Joe Morris, Ted Reichman, Jason Moran, Anthony Coleman and Stratis Minikakis and also did several additional studies with Vijay Iyer at Harvard in performance and in music philosophy. At NEC, although I was in the jazz department, he did a lot of regular work and study with the CI and Classical departments playing percussion and studying composition. In school I was playing on the scene in Boston and would regularly leave town to play in NY and NJ and also did several tours while in school. In 2016, I was accepted to the Banff Creative Music Workshop where I studied with Tyshawn Sorey, Anthony Tidd, Kendrick Scott, and Luciana Souza. Although there is this huge education, I honestly often found it extremely difficult to follow the directions of teachers and complete or do assignments because I was always interested in something else that wasn’t being taught. This attribute ended up working well for me because it allowed me to cultivate a unique authenticity and an ability to understand myself. When this honesty was projected to some teachers it was great because some of them knew how to help cultivate these natural interests . A great deal of my education came from self teaching and becoming very obsessed with techniques, various music and concepts and researching through various literature and learning and performing around the world.
As for being an educator, I’ve given regular private lessons for drummers of all ages and I have, in addition, taught drum, percussion, rhythm and performance masterclasses at the Panama Jazz Festival, across China in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Kunming and Beijing and at the Salzburg Jazz Festival. I spent time as teaching artist for the Boston Cantata Singers Program teaching songwriting to 4th and 5th graders. Because of my vast interests and artistic abilities, I blend the teachings in philosophy, literature, visual art and music to enable a student to have a wide perspective on drums and music so they are able to grow into themselves as a person. I believe that teaching music is very intertwined with the students’ inner being and that by teaching music I try to have the student learn more about themselves. Lessons start as an empty cup to be filled with whatever interests and possibilities that are found within the times of lessons. Since I underwent an intense conservatory experience with literally thousands of hours of practice and performance, I also advocate to have a student utilize a good and HEALTHY practice instead of one that cultivates itself to becoming too much or unhealthy.
