He picked up the saxophone in school, eventually winning the "Louis Armstrong Award" from the National Association of Jazz Educators. In 1981, he graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, joining its staff the next year to become the youngest faculty member in their history. He stayed until 1984, when he was lured to New York City to follow the hot jazz scene at the time. He had no problem in getting work after that point, working with Buck Clayton, Lionel Hampton, Paquito d'Rivera, even the New York City Opera. Besides that, he began working on film music and was awarded no less than four fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts. His love of obscure and rare types of saxophones came into play in his solo career, as he tried to resurrect everything from the contrabass saxophone to the C-Melody saxophone in his various recordings. His ties in the political world gave him the chance to play at both the Smithsonian Museum and for the President of the United States, while he still remained true to his jazz roots when he headlined the Sun Ra festival at the Knitting Factory in New York City. In 2000, he was named the U.S. State Department Jazz Ambassador for the next year, leading to a long tour of West Africa in 2001 to capitalize on the award. ~ Bradley Torreano