Music
My main instrument is the tenor saxophone, but I wish I also played the bass. My main influences on the tenor sax are players like Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, and John Coltrane. My main musical influences more generally are Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, and James Brown, with an extra dose from others such as Led Zeppelin, Rage Against The Machine, J Dilla, and Radiohead.
I don’t seem to have time to play for hire anymore as a freelance jazz and blues tenor player, but I’m still open to new playing opportunities if they’re serious, and lately, if they’re funky. At the moment, I’m principally involved with two groups in the Halifax area:
AST / The Happy Few
Originally known as Atlantic Standard Time, this quartet is known for its jazz standards and jazz versions of modern pop repertoire from artists such as Feist, Radiohead, Hawksley Workman, and more. Personnel originally comprised Dustin LindenSmith on tenor sax, Chris Elson on keyboards, Adam Fine on bass, and Bob Gaudreau on drums, but with the departure of Bob Gaudreau, the remaining trio attaches itself to various other local drummers in the form of a new group called The Happy Few.
2×2
A post-modern funk, jazz and blues quartet featuring the classic Hammond B3 organ sound. Repertoire is selected from composers such as Ray Charles, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith, James Brown, and others, along with a number of originals from the group. Personnel comprise Matt Myer on Hammond’s XK-2 organ synthesizer, Dustin LindenSmith on tenor sax, Ross Burns on guitar, and Paul Keddy on drums.
I also maintained a briefly-running audio blog in 2006 which hosted a regular podcast produced by me that featured little-known “gold nugget” tracks by underground funk, soul, jazz and hip-hop artists. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to develop a significant audience for that series before personal circumstances (i.e. raising three young kids full-time) forced me to stop publishing. I still remain interested in getting that podcast running again as soon as I can fit it back into my schedule, however.