David Bowie

Mike Garson was classically trained on the piano and contributed greatly to jazz and rock as well as his own “now music” style. Mike’s passion for music is evident in everything he plays and his love with teaching and preserving his musical heritage is evident in nearly everything he says. For Mike, it is more than playing music, it is a matter of living in the music and making every effort to express what is happening in that very moment. His fascinating interview for the NAMM Oral History program included a look at his views about now music as well as his career that ranged from

Buford Jones has thoroughly enjoyed his career as a live sound mixer and FOH engineer for over 50 years. He toured in excess of 47 years with artists such as Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top and Linda Ronstadt, just to name five. Buford pioneered mixing in stereo (in the early 1970s) and later did the same for mixing in surround sound (such as for Pink Floyd’s “Delicate Sound of Thunder”). Buford began his career touring for Showco, where he stayed for ten years before becoming an independent contractor where he was able to work directly with the artists.

Brian Leshon began playing in his school jazz band when he was just thirteen years old. However, as early as his high school years, Brian had a strong interest in the recording process. He joined the Cherokee Studios team in 1975 and was on hand and participated in many historic recordings. He soon realized this was his dream job and he did all he could to learn more and develop related skills such as Mixing and Producing. Brian worked for Chateau Records and was on staff at A&M Studios before his famous return to Cherokee where he was the Chief Engineer on some of his favorit

Tony Levin is one of the most prolific bassists in history having recorded as a session player with numerous groups including Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and Yes, regular gigs with groups including King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, and finally maintaining a solo career with numerous releases under his own name. Tony makes it a distinct point to try to fit the instrument and sound to the musical piece at hand. This has led him to develop not only fantastic chops on electric and upright bass, but he has also been a pioneer with the Chapman stick.

Mike Moran is the noted recording engineer who helped put the sound on tape for several hits as well as historic albums.  While working for RCA, Mike engineered several sessions for Elvis Presley as well as for Perry Como, David Bowie and a long list of Broadway Cast albums including the original “Hair.”  Mike was hired by RCA after his years in the service and in fact joined the company in the shipping department.  He soon was told about educational classes the company offered and before long he had developed a real interest in sound recording and engineering.  He worked as an as

Carmine Rojas is a powerful and adaptive bassist who can glide from jazz to rock to soul and funk with great ease. As a result, he has performed with many of his musical heroes, such as touring with David Bowie and Rod Stewart and recording with Tina Turner, Julian Lennon, Dave Mason, and Joe Bonamassa -among many others. In 1998, he teamed with Marcos Nand to form the band Ziroq, which blended rock, flamenco and Spanish styles with great energy and finesse. The band’s single “Que Pena” was featured on the Putamayo World Music album Regueton in 2002.