Songs from the heart. Food for the soul.
My music vision is to perform my songs & share with others the healing, comfort & joy that I’ve received from writing & playing them, with the goal of connecting & lifting our spirits.
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A Brooklyn native & long-time respected professional musician, Andy’s had a wide range of music experience in the NYC area. He’s played sax & sung background vocals in R&B, Blues, Rock & Big Bands in such venues as SOB’s, Damrosch Park @ Lincoln Center, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Bandshell (Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival), The Bitter End, The Limelight, Tramps, Manny’s Car Wash, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, two Elvis Impersonators’ bands &, yes, a few wedding bands.
He’s performed with former members of James Brown’s band: Fred Thomas & Hollie Farris.
Andy’s passion for music goes back as far as he can remember. He sang in school glee clubs, around the campfire with his seven siblings, & later with other teens on Brooklyn street corners. At 14, he found his first guitar in a garbage can - the hole in the back didn’t daunt him - he just replaced three missing strings with fishing line & taught himself to play.
At NYC’s High School of Art & Design (A&D), he played alto sax in the concert band & the dance band – where he played with Lenny White, who later became known for being the drummer in Chick Corea’s Return to Forever. He also played bassoon in the orchestra & sang in the folk group.
While attending college at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, he played sax, rhythm guitar & sang background vocals in local, East Flatbush, Brooklyn bands.
In the early 80’s, for nearly 6 years, Andy had a blast playing tenor sax & singing background vocals in Thin Ice, a great Brooklyn bar/cover band.
In the mid to late 80’s, Andy played tenor sax & harmonica, & sang background vocals with Frank De Gennaro’s band: Francis Xavier & the Holy Roman Empire. As part of the Local 802 Rock & R&B committee, the band was voted the year’s “Best Original Rock Band in NYC”.
In the 90’s, Andy performed with a diverse spectrum of musical talent, including the Nigerian, reggae artist, Ras Kimomo, & the down-home, fun bands of Elvis impersonators, Dr. Nazar Sayegh & Gene de Napoli at annual Westchester county fairs. He also performed & recorded with Nigerian artist Leon Kaleta Ligan-majek.
In 1991, Andy became part of Jack Walsh’s Brooklyn-based, R&B cover band, Memphis Train & the Box Car horns - regulars at Manny’s Car Wash & many other NYC clubs. They once shared the stage with Felix Hernandez, WBGO’s Rhythm Revue host, for a rocking R&B Halloween Party.
For over 12 years, with trumpet player, James Colarusso, he charted the orchestration of many of the great Stax, Motown & Atlantic classic R&B hits to be interpreted by The Box Car Horns.
He & Colarusso also composed the music for a Verizon cell phone TV ad in April 1998.
After marrying his beloved, Dianne, in 2000, Andy took a break from performing to spend more time with her.
In 2004, Andy’s music life took an important turn:
His friend, Elliott Kerman, invited him to write a song with him. (Kerman, now a jazz singer - Elliott Kerman & His Jumpin' Jazz Combo - had previously been in the a capella group, Rock-a-pella, best known as the band on PBS’s children’s show, “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?”)
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NOTE: All his life, Andy had thought he couldn’t write songs because he’s dyslexic, but he decided to give it a try with Elliott. Turns out, he’s not only able to write songs — he LOVES writing songs!
Together, Elliott & Andy wrote the song, “Weekend Alone with You,” which is on his CD, Everything’s Different. And, his new passion — songwriting — was on fire, & he began writing songs on his own.
Moving, funny & reflective, Andy’s indie/folk, rock & jazz songs convey his unique perspective on life.
Andy’s song material comes directly from his life experiences. Touched by the tragic, premature deaths of his two younger brothers, George & Nick; to finding true love & artistic support in his marriage to his wife, Dianne. Andy continues to find songwriting to be healing, joyful & surprising.
Sometimes, he wakes up in the middle of the night hearing the music for an entire song & runs to record it on his iPhone!
Pinhole photographs by Stefan Killen