I am a professional saxophonist living in Stratford, CT, and am available for project, studio, or sub work. Although originally from CT I spent 1995 - 2018 in Tucson, AZ. From 2008 - 2013 I was leader/manager of a 4 piece funk band named The Railbirdz who were pretty active in the local music scene. We self produced and released a CD in 2013, recorded in my home studio. In addition to my studio recording equipment I had a portable recording rig and we recorded numerous live gigs, and some of those recordings as well as some tracks from our CD are linked below for your listening pleasure. I also recorded several local bands live at their gigs and produced both demos and full blown CDs for them.
From 2013 until I left in 2018 I was playing in a couple of 9 piece horn bands; The Coolers and Giant Blue. The Railbirdz morphed into a 7 piece funk/fusion band that gigged very occasionally. We added another sax player (Gary Love), a vocalist (Lexa Raquel) and a keyboard player (Rich Katz) to the core Birdz unit of Mike Troupe (drums), Marty Perry (guitar) and Johnny Walker (bass), and yours truly. I also "sat in" occasionally/regularly with the Bryan Dean Trio on Monday nights at the Rockabilly in Tucson. I recorded the BDT "Live at the Boondocks" in Tucson and played sax as well on most of the recorded tracks. I am a competent recording and mixing engineer and liked to record live tracks to mix in my studio. In addition to the Railbirdz and the Bryan Dean Trio recordings I recorded the Ed Delucia trio (also at Boondocks) in 2009 and several years later did a mix on those recordings. Samples of that work is also linked below. Alas, I got tired of arriving 4 hours before downbeat and setting up the PA and recording gear, playing sax and recording engineer for 3-4 hours, and then taking everything down. I sold all of my recording gear (at a GREAT financial loss!!) when we moved to CT, so now I am just a sax player. I play tenor, baritone, and soprano saxes, having sold my alto sax along with my recording and PA gear. I also got back into playing flute and am ready for some double work, should there be a need.
Below are some samples of my work playing, singing, and recording/mixing in my studio. For live performances I used a Presonus StudioLive 16 channel mixer via a firewire interface into a MacBook Pro with a solid state hard drive, FOH was provided by a pair of QSC K12.2's and a QSC sub woofer, and monitors were 5 Behringer F1220D's. My studio had a StudioLive 24 channel mixer and a fairly extensive microphone selection and external channel strips for recording, and I mixed in Cubase 8.0 and had a full suite of United Audio plug-ins. Ah, the good old daze.
All of the recordings below were tracked (either live, or in my studio) and mixed by me. The Railbirdz and Bryan Dean Trio tracks were mastered by Jim Pavett of Allusion Studios in Tucson, AZ.
From the Railbirdz CD
The following tracks are from the Railbirdz CD released in September 2013.
Cut the Cake - I play tenor and alto sax parts during the verses and choruses and play an alto solo midway through the tune.
Video File
I'm a Man - A slightly different interpretation of the Chicago version, I play tenor and baritone sax, organ, and sing lead. There is a tenor solo in the last third of the tune.
Greeny's - A song by New Soul Underground, I play bari sax, tenor sax, and organ with a tenor solo after the guitar solo.
Sing a Simple Song - A Maceo Parker interpretation of the Sly favorite, I sing lead and play alto and bari sax with an alto solo near the end.
All Blues - The Miles Davis fave with some Liquid Soul on top, I play tenor and bari sax.
As explained at the top of this page, back in day with the Railbirdz I was learning audio engineering and recording. I had a nice live recording rig (Presonus StudioLive 16 channel board) and I recorded most of our gigs to use for practice mixing in my home studio (where I had a StudioLive 24 channel board). Recording live takes a lot of effort and sometimes the results (because it is a live recording) are less than desirable. Sometimes it sounds pretty damn good though.
Here's a blast from the past, Kaylie Foster singing Messin with Da Kid at her first public gig with the Railbirdz. So what, it was a a Pizza parlor - the band was kicking and she rocked!!
This is a live recording made in 2011 or 2012 of the Railbirdz version of Skin Tight, an Ohio Player's hit from the 1970's. The recording was made at the Redline Sports Grill in Tucson (since closed). It sounds like a studio recording - not because of my abilities as an engineer - but because we were playing to a pretty empty room!
This live Railbirdz recording made in 2011 and I believe it was also made at the Redline Sports Grill in Tucson. Nasty Habits features Mike Troupe on vocals in addition to his always awesome drum playing, Marty Perry playing his usual funky/bluesy guitar comps and solo, our pre-Johnny Walker bass player who will remain nameless, and yours truly on sax and a feeble attempt to fill in some organ comps behind Marty's guitar solo. There also is some baritone sax in this one which I am pretty sure I added afterwards in the studio, since I don't ever remember bringing my bari to a Railbirdz gig (I had enough crap to set up and break down).
Here are some new mixes from an old live recording at Boondocks of the Ed Delucia Trio, featuring Ed Delucia on guitar, Ralph Gilmore on drums, and Larry Lee Lerma on bass. We shared a gig at Boondocks on July 4th 2011 or 2012 (memory fades!) and they used my PA, so I recorded them and forgot about it for a while. I found the recorded files and did a mix for Ed, who is also coincidentally originally from CT but still lives in Tucson, AZ:
Ed Delucia Trio
634-5789
Bad Sign
Brown Sugah
Foxxy Lady
Cold, Cold Feeling
Let the good times roll
I shoulda been gone
Sunshine of your love
ZZ Top Duology
A project in 2015 was recording, mixing, producing, and playing sax on a live CD for the Bryan Dean Trio, called "Live at the Boondocks" and was released in October 2015. A track from that CD is below and you can order that CD directly on the Bryan Dean Trio website.
From the Bryan Dean Trio CD - "Live at the Boondocks"
Have Mercy
Phone Booth
Below are a few jazz tunes recorded in 2012 with Mike Troupe on drums, Lew Lepley on piano, and Kirk Kuykendall on bass. This was recorded in my studio and I was recording and mixing engineer (the tracks are not mastered).
With Mike Troupe, Lew Lepley, Kirk Kuykendall
Cousin Mary - A Coltrane tune off of the Giant Steps album, this is Coltrane's solo transcribed and played by me on tenor sax.
Killer Joe - a Benny Golson tune, I'm playing tenor sax on it.
Well You Needn't - Thelonius Monk, me on tenor sax.
And for something COMPLETELY different, the last tune is a composition called Sax in the Box, written by Scott Fessler, Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music. It is a slightly avant garde classical originally written for 7 recorders, but re-written for saxamaphones - 2 Baritone, 2 Tenor, 2 Alto, and 1 Soprano sax.
Solo Recording
Sax in the Box - Written by Scott Fessler, I am playing all 7 sax tracks; 2 baritone, 2 tenor, 2 alto, and 1 soprano.
The Very Early Daze
A former bandmate provided me with a couple of recordings I did with a band called Winchester Special, an 8 piece band with three vocalists. I played with them in the mid 1980's (just before I put the horn down for 20 years) and we did some recordings of their original stuff. On the recording of "Instant Love" I play some flute at the end, which I think is one of the few recordings of me playing flute.
Instant Love
Sugar Man
Please take a listen and if you are interested in contacting me please fill out the information in the contact form below.
All of the recordings above were tracked and mixed by me in my studio, Flat 5th. The Railbirdz and Bryan Dean Trio tracks were mastered by Jim Pavett of Allusion Studios in Tucson, AZ.
Thanks!