About My Journey

• Peabody Institute: I joined the Peabody Preparatory faculty, teaching guitar, music theory, jazz improvisation, and music history. I also served in administrative roles, including co-chairman of the Preparatory Theory Department and director of one of Peabody's first jazz programs. In addition, I coordinated the Arts Expansion Program (AEP), a government -funded program (CETA) devoted to educating talented young students of challenged family.
• 
  

             Other Teaching: I taught music history courses at Johns Hopkins Evening Collegeand at the Goucher College Center. I also taught Counterpoint at Johns Hopkins University, substituting for my teacher, Robert Hall Lewis, when he was in Europe supervising performances of his music.

• Lecturer: l lectured nationally on my music and blues projects at venues like the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington D..C. ;The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, MS, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi,  the Juneteenth celebration in Houston, Texas; and numerous blues festivals around the USA --especially the Chicago Blues Festival where I became the chief supervisor and moderator of panels.   I was hired by the festival for 10 straight years.
• Private Teaching:  I have maintained an active private studio throughout my career, teaching guitar, music theory, improvisation, and blues/jazz history.

• Writing Career: I left academia to focus on the blues as a historian and writer, contributing articles, columns, and reviews to publications including the All-Music Guide (Blues co-editor) the Baltimore Sun , and  Blues Magazines such as Living Blues, The King Biscuit Times (served as writer/editor),  and Blues Access.  I was also writing liner notes for many blues labels here and abroad,
• Grammy Nomination and Awards:
  • I was Grammy-nominated for my 92-page booklet--part of the box set “Mean Old World: The Blues From 1940-1994 that I co-produced for the Smithsonian  Press.
  • I was also Chief liner-note writer for the double Grammy-winning collection, “Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues,”
  • and was named Living Blues Magazine's “Liner Note Writer Of The Year” as well as “Best Compiler of A Historical Compilation.”

• Producer of the Year:  I was named "Best Producer of the Year" by Living Blues Magazine in 1997. I also received the W.C. Handy Award from the Blues Foundation for producing "Fish Ain't Bitin'(Alligator) , named the Best Acoustic Blues Record of the Year. 
• Corey Harris: Most notably, I discovered and first-recorded Corey Harris, who became the 2008 MacArthur Fellow, . I was named  Best Blues Producer of the Year, having  produced award-winning records by three other exceptional bluesmen: John Weston (Fat Possum), Freddie Roulette (DBK),  and Chico Banks (Evidence).

I love the blues, and have championed it whenever I have had a chance. I have been noted by blues experts such as Dr. William Ferris,  Paul Oliver , Sam Charters, Greg Johnson,, and David Evans-- each of whom called my work the most successful ever in bringing the blues to classical music., sInce George Gershwin.

 But the blues is not the only flavor of Americana that I have integrated into classical music.  Chimera Rag(String Quartet no.8) was my tribute to Scott Joplin, the great Ragtime composer. “Charming” was the term heralded ragtime performer and expert Ann Charters used to describe the piece.

  I  played a lot of "old time music" when I was coming up, and incorporated that essence in my Woodwind Quintet no.14, entitled OldTimeMusic." 

Freight Train Variations (String Quartet No.6) is my tribute to the great folk -blues artist, Elizabeth Cotten, who composed and recorded  ”Freight Train,” which she sang while accompanying herself on guitar.  She was a lovely, talented artist whom I loved,, admired, and studied when learning guitar.  I had the opportunity and great privilege of opening for Ms. Cotten --with my folk trio--when I was fifteen years old-- when she appeared in Baltimore..

Blue Mirror is a solo work for guitar that I composed to integrate traditional blues guitar into atonality- (a bold try to be sure!)

(It’s received over300 listens on YouTube!)

Summer Sounds’,a work commissioned by the Baltimore Symphony Chamber Music program, is  my attempt to bring the sounds of baseball to the classical music stage. It was performed by wonderful players of the BSO.

ALL OF THE WORKS MENTIONED ABOVE CAN BE HEARD ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL!

A very exciting integration was  THREE SONGS FOR BLUESMAN AND ORCHESTRA, a work commissioned by the Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra. For this piece, I was to set three songs written by great Chicago bluesman John Primer to an orchestral environment. It 

was performed twice  in Chicago : first at Dominican University, and the next evening at Chicago’s fabulous Symphony Center, (where I had heard the Chicago Symphony Orchestra perform Brahms' Fourth Symphony numerous times.) 

Another exciting work for orchestra is  American Overture, in which I  weave a number of American folk genres in the same orchestral work.

My chamber work, Blues for Harp, Oboe, and Violoncello was recorded and performed by members of the Cleveland Orchestra -- among them: world-famous artists , oboist John Mack, and harpist Yolanda Kondonasis.

• This work has enjoyed many performances since its premiere at the iconic Frick Gallery, played by by first chair players of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.  The trio performed it a second time at the Carnegie Museum of Art.  To my knowledge, It was last- performed at the Breckenridge International Festival of the Arts in Breckenridge, Colorado.
• 
  

             My String Quartet No. 1: The Blues premiered at the 

             Smithsonian Chamber Music Series in Washington, D.C. 

• The same String Quartet received its Chicago premiere in 2006 at the Cultural Center, and its European premiere in Sweden in 2008-- performed twice, there, alongside a work by Wynton Marsalis.

• ALL COMPOSITIONS MENTIONED ABOVE (EXCEPT FOR "THREE SONGS")  can be heard on my YOU TUBE channel.

My return to composing was fostered by certain key figures --friends who encouraged me to blend my blues background with my classical education, including:....

• Friends like Lynn Hebden (Peabody Preparatoy Dean) and Baltimore Symphony percussionist John Locke.
• Blues community leaders like Barry Dolins (founder of the Chicago Blues Festival) and Dr. William Ferris (former Chairman of the National Endowment of the Humanities
• Renowned Blues historian and producer Samuel Charters, who interviewed me about my blues-oriented compositions, and iconic blues writer Paul Oliver (England). who encouraged me to continue  writing and composing --             both in person and in their letters to me.
• Ron Becker (Assistant Director of the Smithsonian Museum of American History), brought my work to the Smithsonian's attention, leading to significant opportunities.