(November, 2017) I was born and raised in Cumberland, Md. My Dad was an outstanding pianist and so music was a very big influence in our family.   Dad worked the 3-11 shift at a local factory, so his piano playing usually started at 11:45 PM in those days. I slept on the other side of the wall from the piano, so I slept soundly to hundreds and hundreds of wonderful old piano tunes!  Though I had no idea what the titles were, I knew the melodies by heart for all the songs in Dad's repertoire, from "Tammy" and "Winchester Cathedral" to "Ja-Da".

In the 5th grade I was given a saxophone and it didn't take long before I was following Dad's lead around the circle of fifths!  That experience helped me a lot during high school and college to gain employment around town with some very nice dance bands.  When I graduated from High School, I entered Frostburg State University as a Physics major.  I also took private instruction on saxophone and played in the concert and jazz bands.   It didn't take me long to discover the music faculty members were a lot more fun than the physics folks, so I majored in music and graduated as a Sax major with a degree in Music Education.

I taught briefly in the Maryland school system before deciding to take the plunge into the U.S. Air Force Band.  I spent the next 7 glorious years surrounded by other music nerds (some had master's degrees).  It was truly a dream gig!  One day, after a long couple parades (hated them things!), I decided to leave the band (it was a difficult decision for sure) and I became a computer programmer.  After a few years as an enlisted programmer, I applied for Officer Training School and as luck would have it, I became a 2nd Lieutenant in the computer systems career field.  I spent the next 14 years focusing on military computer applications and fielding (even fielded a tactical radar system!) and I retired as a Major in 1996.

I discovered MIDI and arrangers long ago and have been the proud owner of PSR-1000, 2000, 3000, Tyros 2, Tyros 4 and now the PSR-S970. I also have a Korg PA4X and have had other Korg machines as well as the old standards (Yamaha DX7 and Fender Rhodes suitcase).

These days I reside in Niceville, FL where I have been playing my sax at a lot of beach weddings (they are very hot!).  I love the arrangers! Hope you enjoy my music!

Randy
saxxman on the Forum