He is a saxophonist and flautist born in La Boca,
Panama, to a family where his aunt and uncle were both successful
pianists.His family had moved
to Seattle, Washington, by the time he was thirteen, which was when he
began to play the clarinet that led him into performing on the flute and
saxophone over time.He went
into the military, getting posted to Frankfurt, Germany, and during these
years he took studies at the Navy School of Music and met the arranger
Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson who encouraged him. After leaving the service in the early 1960s he started
working as a sideman and from 1965 to 1966 he worked with John Coltrane
during his visit to Seattle and then again after he had relocated to New
York.From that time on he
freelanced as a sideman with many of the up and coming jazz artists and
also became a member of the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. During the early 1970s he began a long term working
relationship with Don Cherry, appearing on several of his recordings that included
the 1973 Relativity Suite, which featured him giving a solo
performance.1973 also saw him
starting another long term collaboration with the pianist Abdullah Ibrahim.The year previous he had teamed up
with the Brooklyn's King Davis House Rockers who became Madison Street
Express and eventually B.T. Express and saw success with their funk hits "Do
It ('Til You're Satisfied)" and "Express".In 1986/7 he joined up with the Cecil Taylor Unit and the
Ed Blackwell Project, and wanting to lead his own ensemble he formed a
quartet and released the 1988 live album Lito.Throughout the 1990s and until the
present day he continues to perform and record as a sideman.His solo recording career also
continued with the 1994 release of Faces, the 1995 Live at the
Bug & Other Sweets and the 1998 Set for 2 Dons.
