About

 
 

I believe community centered music changes lives

In my over 20 years working as a music educator, facilitator, and administrator, I have come to the undeniable conclusion that music can and should act as a means of bringing people together. We live in an increasingly atomized and self centered society with music presented and sold as a commodity. It is my goal to help fight back against the commodification of what I view as a fundamental human experience. This requires using my position as a music teacher, player, and administrator to provide opportunities for people to experience music making in a way that is accessible and approachable, while fostering relationships and a sense of well being in all of the folks I interact with. I currently do this through my work at Jazz Night School in Seattle, which provides these experiences to over 200 musicians per week from all walks of life.

 

My prior teaching experience includes Jazz Theory and Composition at Cornish College of the Arts from 2011-2021, Music Technology and Guitar at Bellevue College 2014-2017, Jazz Band a Holy Names Academy 2012-2022, and private lessons in numerous instruments and subjects from 2006-Present. I currently serve as the Program Director at Jazz Night School in Seattle, where I have been since 2021.

As a bass player I have performed and recorded with a wide variety of artists both from the Pacific Northwest and abroad. Specifically, artists in the fields of Brazilian and Vocal Jazz including: Jovino Santos Neto, Debora and Dani Gurgel, Antonio Adolfo, Hermeto Pascoal Grupo, Johnaye Kendrick, Amanda Taylor, Gail Pettis, Pat Wright, and the vocal group Groove for Thought. I currently play with the Electro Swing band “Good Co.” which performs extensively around the US, and work as an on-call bassist for many PNW artists.