JAZZ
I was fortunate to be accepted as a pupil of John Mehegan, the highly regarded author of a pioneering series of Jazz education books and a teacher of jazz at the Juilliard School of Music. After a year’s study with him he suggested my writing a book on the subject of blues piano, an area that he had not analyzed in his books. With that in mind I entered the composition department at Rutgers University, New Brunswick and eventually obtained my Master’s degree in composition based upon my Barrelhouse Piano Sonata and upon my research into early jazz piano techniques. At that time I also began work on my Barrelhouse Piano Concerto, which I composed on a grant from the New Jersey Council on the Arts. My research into early jazz piano techniques culminated in the publication of two books: The Art of Blues Piano Improvisation (renamed The Blues, Barrelhouse & Boogie-woogie Workbook) and Blues & Boogie-woogie Piano Styles (both books published by Ekay Publishers.)

After graduation I continued to compose works in the jazz vernacular, especially in the third movements of my twelve duo and six trio sonatas, as well as in my eleven piano concertos.