Not sure how to start this bio. I came into music slowly. After a great 15 years of study and work in science (physics and finally computer-aided data analysis), I came back to my first love. Music. Specifically the saxophone. After a few years learning from some great LA musicians and playing in bands with friends, I started working. I'm still working and teaching which, luckily, I have a real knack for. So here are a few things I've done. I'll add more as I recall them and as they happen.
In 2000, I performed on sax and flute and was a featured soloist for Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python, where Eric Idle and John Du Prez guided us on a loony musical stage tour of Monty Python. Along the way, I shared the stage with world renowned performers Clint Black, Art Garfunkle, Robin Williams, and Monty Python's Terry Jones. This tour was a blast!
I've had the opportunity to play with some wonderful Latin artists while playing with Yari More's Orquestra from 1997-2000 such as the "Queen of Salsa", Celia Cruz. Seeing her beam with pleasure while we traded fours was certainly a highlight of my salsa days.
I have also added my musical talents to several critically acclaimed LA theater productions. In 2006 under John Rubinstein's musical direction, I, Dan Belzer and John Harvey took the piss on Interact Theatre Company's Urinetown. This was a fantastic production and I'm proud to have had a part in it. [Great licorice stick stuff for the clarinet.] As the woodwind player in the pit for the 1999 Ovation Award winning comedy musical Reefer Madness, we (the Reefer Band with Dave Manning at the helm) consistently rocked the madness. It was an incredible run for almost a year...and for a staged musical at a small theater in LA...crazy!
I've been recording a few commercials for my brother, Lennie Moore in the last couple of years. He's an incredible composer. Most recently some bari, flute and alto flute for an upcoming game based on the Dirty Harry movies. It's a nasty, funky score! And I've been playing a few things for Patrick Collins to backup world famous burlesque dancer Dita Von Tesse. Close your eyes kids.
For the gear minded, I'm playing an old Bb Beuscher "Aristocrat" Bari sax with a Berg Larsen 110/2 SMS mouthpiece. I use it most for recording because it is, as my old sax teacher, Don Raffell used to say "that horn's the absolute end". And, after playing on just about every other kind of bari made, I have to agree. The sound is just so warm and beautiful. Maybe it's the density of metal or the absence of lacquer. I don't know. It's heavy though; so I used a Conn 11M with the low A when I have to carry one around. It too sounds good, but has a much rougher edge to it.