Brian was born in Tucson Arizona. He grew up in a family of musicians and artists. His father and brother played the drums. With all that music around the house, and drums all over the place, it was natural for Brian to start playing the drums as well. At two and a half years old, he was beating up the furniture and banging on anything that didn’t move. After some years of playing and practicing, Brian began his professional career as a drummer at the age of thirteen. In elementary and Jr.High School, Brian also played the cello. That was one instrument that Brian did not feel very comfortable playing. One day in orchestra class at jr. high, the orchestra director came over to Brian and said, hey Brian, you see that big bass over there in the corner? You know that nobody is playing it. Don’t you want to play that big cool bass over there? You see, the orchestra director had a plan. He thought that having one bad bass player was better than not having one at all. That was his way of getting Brian to stop trying to cut his cello in half!
That day was a blessing in disguise. Brian didn’t realize that he had the gift for melody as well as rhythm. With his drumming background, and all this new melody available to him from the bass, Brian knew that this was going to be his path.
From ages fourteen to eighteen, Brian locked himself up in a room and practiced day and night. Testing out of high school early and devoting all his time to music, for the next few years Brian played every type of gig imaginable. Quite often he would play five to seven nights a week with several different bands.
Brian’s first big break came in 1979 when Marc Johnson, the wonderful bassist with the great jazz pianist Bill Evans, heard Brian play. Several months later while on tour, Marc ran into legendary jazz saxophonist Stan Getz. Stan was looking for a new bass player and asked Marc if he knew any new young players. Marc told Stan about Brian and he then auditioned for Stan and joined the Stan Getz quintet in December of 1979. At only 19, he spent nearly a year touring the world with Stan and his band.
Since then, as a session bassist Brian has performed on many major Hollywood movie soundtracks and television shows, and has toured, performed and or recorded with some of the greatest artists of our time including: Andrea Bocell,i Andy Williams, Anita O’ Day, Arturo Sandoval, Carmen McCrea, Donny Osmond, Dudley Moore, Eddie Harris, Elvis Costello, Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, George Duke, Gerry Mulligan, Kenny G, Kenny Rankin, Lee Ritenour, Les McCann, Lionel Hampton, Lou Rawls, Roy Hargrove,Sarah Vaughn, Shirley Horn, Sonny Stitt, Stan Getz, Stanley Turrentine, Steven Bishop, Steven Tyler( (Aerosmith), and Sting
Brian’s solo career began with the release of his first album, “A New Day” in 1986. Since that first album Brian has released over 20 solo projects globally and got his first Grammy Nomination in 2007 for his chart-topping CD “Downright Upright.”
As a solo artist and independent record producer, Brian has produced more than 13 top-10 hits, many top-5 hits, and three #1 hit songs, as well as selling over a quarter million albums as a jazz bassist!
Brian certainly has evolved into a very respected voice in the music industry. From smashing through the barriers of how the bass is SUPPOSED to be played, cutting edge bass design, to being recognized as a world-class producer, songwriter, and session musician. He keeps pushing the envelope to become the best that he can be and to keep pushing the boundaries on the acoustic and electric bass.
