and from 2008...
Art began his classical trainings at the USC Preparatory School of Music with the violin at age 6, and then with the piano at age 8. He was a featured soloist with Youth Symphony West under the direction of Robert Armour and was Concertmaster for the Southern CA Honors Orchestra under the direction of Michael Zearott. Never forgetting his musical roots, Art transferred his classical music experiences to the guitar and other instruments which led him to playing in bands in the Los Angeles area.
After taking a number of years off to establish a career in the social services field, along with a move to the Pacific Northwest in 1987, Art continued his passion for music and has performed at the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland, OR; Indian Summer Fest in Milwaukee, WI and in New York City for The American Indian College Fund. He sang and played guitar and bass with Native American Music Award winner Gary Small of The Gary Small Band and in a local reggae band. He began studying the intricacies of Flamenco music with Greg Wolf and Mark Ferguson at the Flamenco Arts Academy in Portland.
In 2004 he created the duo Colores del Alma and has been playing throughout the Portland metropolitan area. The first CD, Colores del Alma came out in 2005 and their followup Brujos de Belmont came out in 2007. During the summer of 2006 Art scored the musical compositions for Teatro Milagro’s play, Frida, un retablo.
Art is currently working on his upcoming solo CD, Portals, which will be released early 2010. The CD will contain a revised mix of previous tunes and re-recorded to relaxing, meditative, environmental sounds. The CD will be available at venues where he performs.
Inspired by the DIY movement, Art believes that the ordinary can be made personal and real.
In 2011 inspired by the frequent visits to Maui, Art picked up the ukelele to play Jawaiian reggae music. You can see him at local restaurants once he gets his act together...
Welcome to 2012
After bringing in the New Year, Shiraz decides to go through a
makeover thereby curtailing my performance schedule at this venue until March. Even then it's still questionable as to whether or not there will be live music there. Hopefully there will be-it has the potential to be the place for a romantic dinner rendezvous in the Pearl.
Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my time at Shiraz along with Kooroush and da Gang and I look forward to performing there once again when things finally settle down. In the mean time, I'll be looking out for other places to perform, AND...
I'll be using this time to come up with a descent setlist and streamline some of that Jawaiian music that I've been learning to play on my latest instrumental challenge, da ukulele.
Keep checking back for mo ramblings...
