To my knowledge, the trumpet player Andy Omdahl is the lead trumpet with a jazz orchestra in Seattle and Mark Adams was playing in Vegas.
John Pastin, the saxophonist is presently the Dean of Music at Rowan University in Glassboro NJ. After hearing such monster musicians,
I always dreamt of playing in a group like that someday. After graduating from the School of Music my first assignment was Ft. Sill, OK.
Being a sax player I was in the Big Band and occasionally got to play in small combos. My first pay gig was with a large combo that was the 1SG’s private group.
We played some private functions at the Officers’ Club. Getting paid for playing? I was hooked! I didn’t get the chance to do too many private jobs at Ft. Sill
but it was fun when I did. My next duty station was Camp Zama, Japan.

I’ve been performing solo along with my laptop for almost 20 years now and the number one question I get from other musicians is,
“How do I get started doing what you’re doing?” Here’s my story and what I believe is one of many ways to get started.
My gigging journey started over 30 years ago while serving in the US Army Band field. While at my AIT (advanced individual training)
at the School of Music in Virginia. As a music student in the military, you always want to go and check out your teachers.
There was a faculty jazz group named “Hearsay” that we students would see in downtown Norfolk.
These guys were and still are studio quality musicians.

When I was in 4th grade, I wanted to be a trumpet player because a guy in my school bus had just got a trumpet through the school band program. Being a procrastinator, I turned in my permission form late and I had to wait until the following year. For some reason I chose saxophone instead of trumpet.