He is a woodwind musician, conductor, arranger, composer and teacher often recognised for his saxophone playing. He studied at the University of Memphis and the Berklee and Eastman Schools of Music and then set out on his music career in Memphis.
He worked as a session musician and could be heard on many recordings put out during the 1970s and 1980s and 1989 saw him moving to New York City to perform and record with many of the jazz musicians there and venturing into performing in Broadway shows and playing in big bands. He was also a musician on the Grammy Award winning Tony Bennett Sings Ellington: Hot and Cool.
He went on to start writing compositions with his works being performed by symphony orchestras and jazz ensembles as well as being heard on many commercials and film soundtracks for productions such as The Outfit, The Little Patriot and Cyber Vengeance.
He ventured out even further in his work in music when he conducted the Kiskeya Orchestra in three concerts held at Carnegie Hall and wrote his own clarinet concerto.
Throughout his entire career he has worked with a whole host of artists and groups from every genre of music and a select few of them include Michael Bolton, Ray Charles, Michel Legrand, David Matthews, Bill Mays, The Memphis Horns, Toots & The Maytals, Nancy Wilson and Stevie Wonder.
He has performed on many albums with a small selection of them include Floridays by Jimmy Buffett, He is the Light by Al Green, Live! One Night Only by Patti Labelle, Talk is Cheap by Keith Richards and the soundtracks of Love Walked In and The Spanish Prisoner.
Recognised for his contribution to the music industry he has been the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP and NARAS.
In the field of education he is currently a member of the faculty of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis.
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