Piano
I started piano lessons at the age 5 from my grandmother Lois Benson who was very accomplished and well known. I played in many recitals including jazz numbers at the “Lollipop” and Minnesota Music Teachers Forum.
Our family was featured in Schmitt Music magazine for many generations of piano teachers. My great great grandmother Lois Swain started as a piano teacher when she traded a horse for a square piano. She taught my great grandmother Hazel Scott who passed the talents on to my grandmother Lois Benson. My mother also taught piano and flute.
I played piano for our church starting at around age 7 with a simple hymn “All for Jesus”.
I liked playing Scott Joplin music a lot and played Pineapple Rag and Maple Leaf Rag when the movie “The Sting” came out and popularized it. Franz Shubert’s Military March for 4 hands was fun to play with my mom or sister.
In high school I took a few more lessons but mostly learned on my own out of necessity at the time I was leading the swing choir my junior and senior year. We had early morning rehearsals and our piano accompanist would oversleep so I was forced to play piano to lead. So I practiced a lot of choir accompaniment piano arrangements.
I love playing big band play along piano. It challenges my mind. I need parts written out as I’m great a reading but find it more of a challenge to make up chords.
Trumpet
I began playing trumpet when I was in 5th grade in 1977 at North Park Elementary school. I was so happy I no longer had to take piano lessons. The first year I was taught by Ellen Logacz.
Our class was very motivated to make music even while in elementary school. We had a dixieland band, stage band, and small jazz combo in addition to our standard concert bands. Several of us got together on our own to practice at our homes.
- Trumpet – David Delzell and Tim Cimbura
- Trombone – Shawn Lidberg
- Tuba – Todd Garner
- Drums – Jim Kuny
- Alto Sax – Robert Zibokowski
- Piano – Jennifer Doebler and Rachel Hagfors
In 6th grade Craig Mesenbring taught us. He gave us a great foundation in jazz with our NPJB (North Park Jazz Band) even making custom arrangements of songs like Star Wars Cantina Band.
David Delzell and I took private trumpet lessons from Craig.
In high school I started a dixieland band we competed at state tournament.
- Trumpet – Tim Cimbura
- Trombone – Paul Ratte
- Clarinet – Chris Larson
- Drums – Mike Pilarski (National McDonald’s Jazz Band), Chris Schenk
- Bass – Tim Clark
- Piano – Lyn Hermerding
I got the opportunity to direct the pit orchestra rehearsals for West Side Story since I knew the music so well.
The culmination of my high school trumpet experience was our senior year jazz concert when Craig Mesenbring came back and led the group in our final year.
I consider trumpet my primary instrument and love playing though I put the instrument away for many years after high school. I picked it back when I started playing with the Holy Horns at Church of the Open Door in 1998 which continued for about 7 years.
My favorite trumpet player is Maynard Ferguson. Seeing him live with the first concert I ever went to in 1980. At one point Maynard held a high note and released. During the seconds of silence that followed someone yelled “Awesome!”…and it was. I love playing along with Maynard Ferguson and Big Band tunes for fun at home.
I told my wife my retirement dream was to play daily in the Society Jazz band at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort. I met the trumpet player Davey Jones in one of their last concerts before the band was permanently removed due to COVID. He said he was planning to retire soon so there might have been an opening. 😉 They now play as the Palm Beach Society Orchestra.
A highlight of my trumpet interest was meeting Wayne Bergeron at the University of Minnesota in 2019. He started playing lead with Maynard Ferguson’s band and played trumpet in many movies including “The Incredibles“.
In 2018 our family was visiting San Antonio and happened upon a trumpet conference where we saw Doc Severinsen direct hundreds of trumpets in front of the Alamo. Then in 2023 I joined the International Trumpet Guild and attended the conference when it was in Minneapolis. I played in the opening fanfare and attended several lectures.
A bucket list highlight of the conference experience was playing the National Anthem at the Minnesota Twins baseball game at Target Field with 110 other trumpets.
I also got to meet Bijon Watson an amazing trumpeter who was featured in the movie La La Land as the jazz club trumpeter. He also directed the national anthem.
I’ve had also the chance to play with the Twin Cities Trumpet Ensemble reading sessions starting in 2022 and substituting for rehearsals with the Roseville Big Band and the Minnetonka Jazz Band. I look forward to more opportunities now that our daughters are leaving the home for college.
Drums
I had an interest in playing drums early on starting in 5th grade. I took 2 lessons but didn’t have the patience to practice snare rhythms. Instead I just learned some basic beats on the drum set after school. My drum playing took off when I was around 28 years old and got my own set as a gift. The drum set was set up in our living room as a birthday surprise. When I was going through my divorce later I really played the drums as a great emotional outlet.
Vocal and Singing
I sang in the All Star Choir in 5th and 6th grade. It was an all district youth choir only available by audition. We sang at shopping malls and other private concerts.
I also played a singing role in our elementary musicals Oliver and Mary Poppins led by Randa Stanius.
Our family sang hymns for our church with harmony. My sister soprano, mom alto, me tenor, and brother bass.
I sang in choir in high school alternating days with band so I could do both. Our choir director Ron Johnson was instrumental in encouraging me to get involved and sing. He was recruiting regularly in the halls of Columbia Heights High School. One amazing experience was singing Handel’s Messiah at St. Philip’s Church in Fridley. I sang a solo in O Holy Night at a Christmas concert at the last minute when the other soloist didn’t show up to final rehearsal.
I also got the opportunity to sing in musicals in high school including Annie Get Your Gun (directed by Randa Stanius) and West Side Story (directed by Jennifer Hadtrath) and then in summer Mounds View Community Theater including Oklahoma, and Music Man (directed by Janet Paone).
I sang in the choir (and played trumpet) at Church of the Open Door for 7 years including Christmas musicals and other contemporary Christian music.
In 2014 got to sing one of my dream roles at the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. I learned the part in one week after being on a vacation with the family and finding out the person originally cast in the part quit at the last minute. Both Arianna and Brielle were also in the show.
Other Instruments
During middle school I got braces and for a while was unable to play trumpet so I took bass guitar lessons and played in concert band. I picked up playing ukulele for fun after the Pixar short film Lava.
Overall
Music has been a great joy in my life. I love making music and listening.