Frequently Asked Questions

Two questions I'm often asked are "Why a big band?" and "How did you come up with the name Model Citizens?"

It was one happy night after dinner and drinks with friends and someone put on a video of various big bands from back in the day, suddenly I asw the light a la John Belushi in The Blues Brothers. I studied Jazz Composition at Berklee (class of '90) then did road time with the Artie Shaw and Glen Miller Orchestras. But it wasn't 'til that fateful night that I had ever dreamed of leading a big band.

Getting started was the hard part. I wrote Catfish Jump, Legs and a few other numbers, called some musicians and found a place to rehearse (to see if I knew what I was doing).

We played our first gig March 3, 1996. Back then we did a show every two or three months. Those gigs were costly because the club we were at didn't pay any money and I was paying the guys out of my pocket. But it wasn't long 'til we found a home at the Gallery Cabaret.

As for the name of the band?

One fine summer day, me and a couple guys in the band were preparing to go th the Cubs game. The pregame was on the radio and Harry Caray described Deion Sanders as a "model citizen".

I figure if Deion's a model citizen then so are we.

People also ask "How do you get such fine players in your band?" and "Where does the music come from?"

Since the band's first show in '96, hundreds of Model Citizens have graced the stage. In the early days it sometimes got rough. There was the jeering, booing, rotten tomatoes in the face; and this is from guys in the band!

As time rolls on it gets better and better. Now the group is a well-honed ensemble of guys who wail, enjoy the music they play and love the free beer the Gallery provides for them.

Lastly, "Where does the inspiration derive from my compositions?"

Three times a week I bathe in buttermilk while listening to the Manhattan Transfer.