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Greg Thompkins of  Baltimore was also on hand at the International Saxophone Symposium.  Greg stopped by the MusicPro Magazine booth to chit-chat and compare the long list of MD,DC,VA musicians that we both knew.  It was a blast.  You can find out more about Greg at his website here:  http://www.rolandparkjazz.com.

Where do you go from here?
Fishing! (Laughs) What do they say? I’ve got a good career behind me. So, it’s been times when I think maybe now’s the time of my life where I can ease out of playing and start writing more, because I’ve always been a frustrated arranger. And I’ve felt that writing [...]

Where do you see yourself going from here?
What’s on the horizon for you?

Well, where we go from here really depends on the myriad of possibilities we try to pull in at one time. We are now opening up a new facility. For instance here at VCU music we have a renovated music center [...]

Of all the types of music you play, which type is your favorite?
Do you have a favorite?
Well, I think I listen to jazz more than I listen to anything else. I think the music I really like playing the most is playing with the Philharmonic. Not only because of the music but because, well [...]

What’s different now from when you first got started?

What isn’t different? Everything’s different. First of all, today there’s not as much in common with live people as there was when I got started. You had to make sure that everything was ready to go so that when you played some notes they were going to [...]

What have you learned about the music business that was a surprise?

I think when you get started in the music business everything’s a surprise. I was really fortunate growing up in New Orleans. I mean I was extremely fortunate! I had no idea how fortunate I was until I moved to upstate New York, [...]

What does it take to be successful?
(Laughs) Luck! A lot of luck but again a lot of motivation, you have to hang in, you have to get rejected all over the place, but when I think of how tough it is to make it in music I think about actors or I think about [...]

What led you to where you are today?
When I was a kid, I was really fascinated with the emotional rush of playing music. As a teenager looking for an outlet, I would move from time at the piano, to time at the guitar, to time at the trombone, then I’d go on to write music, [...]

What have you learned about the music business that has surprised you?
Nothing surprises me anymore. The way the business goes now I’ve learned not to be surprised. Like I say, right from my first days when I got to New York – studios were gone, live playing was just about nil. But I got to [...]

How did you get started?

I got started in music when I was eight or nine. My parents had an upright in the house and encouraged everyone to take piano lessons. For awhile, I was doing some guitar and enjoying that and eventually I started playing some piano reading the guitar symbols on the sheet music [...]

What’s the best advice you ever received?

The best advice I ever received? When I was in high school I was accepted to the Eastman School of Music and one requirement that they said I had to learn was to learn the piano because I had no knowledge of the piano whatsoever. So I found the [...]

Being a skilled orator only is a nice skill to have for a public speaker but that skill only works if you actually have something to say. Antonio Garcia explains why it’s the same for music and musicians.

Everyone who has heard Benjie Porecki perform will tell you that Benjie Porecki has music in his soul and soul in his music. The Washington D.C. area keyboardist is adding his unique sound and stylings both at home and abroad to a plethora of artists such as Maysa, Chuck Brown, Pieces of a Dream, and [...]