Norris People CD - Import

Later on his mother turned him on to an album by Errol Garner called "Concert by the Sea", recorded at Carmel, CA and he listened and leaned all of the arrangements by ear. His musical tastes were later affected by the likes of Pete Jolly, Bill Evans, and later by Kieth Jarrett. John wrote his first composition at the age of 14. It started out like a Bach fugue and turned into a full swinging tune. It had no title but was the beginning of hundreds to come. At the same time he was taking the "Famous Artists Course" from Westport, Connecticut, (You know-"Draw Me" and win an art scholar-ship- kind of thing). He used to have friends over and they would make recordings while beating on any nearby objects that might sound interesting.

At 18, he won a 1/2 tuition scholarship to Chouinard Art Institute and at 20 he began to play in clubs around town. He got his first music job by going through the local Glendale yellow pages and calling about 35 clubs. He got three auditions and landed one job at a place called the Zebra Club for $15.

00 a night. Over the next few years he worked at art during the day and played different clubs at night, sometimes as far away as Newport Beach. He had a duo for a while, a trio but mostly played solo, doing as much jazz as possible. Highlights included playing with the Elliot Bros.