My first instrument was clarinet, which I did not enjoy at all.  Drumming has been my passion since age 5. At age 14 I finally bought my first drum set and have been performing ever since. Self taught, I learned how to play drums by listening to the Big Bands of the 40's & 50's such as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and Artie Shaw. One of my favorite tunes from that era was "Sing Sing Sing" with Gene Krupa on drums at the 1938 Jazz Concert in Carnegie Hall.
        I soon played with local Rock, Country, Jazz, and even some Latin musicians. Somewhere around age 23, after much persuasion from two friends and my Grandfather, I put the Western Music aside and broke down and bought my first dumbeg. Middle Eastern Music came very easily to me and I began to really enjoy it! Not to mention that it was easier to carry one drum instead of an entire set.......Until I started to play Greek Music, which required a full set!
        May 1973 marked my first gig at the Averof as a fill in. The Averof at that time was a very small and two musicians had to play by the front window. As the Averof  grew, the band grew as well and my expertise in Middle Eastern/Greek music was being forged. I remained mainly at the Averof, playing 4-6 nights a week for 10 years. In that time I feel so very fortunate to have performed for standing room only

crowds of 300 people a night with some of the finest singers, dancers, and musicians in the country. One of  whom was the late George Abdo, who taught me so much about the music, stage and the Night Club Show. He was a master of the stage and the dramatic. A real friend whom I'll truly miss.
         Over the years I've worked at so many places but here are a few: The Jazz Workshop, Olympia, El Morroco, The Middle East, Karoun, and the Averof. I've performed on more than a dozen albums, at concerts at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall, and every TV station in the Boston area. Some of the people I've worked with include George Abdo, Mazin Hamdan, Nona el Hanna, Adis Harmandian, Levon Kartergian, Onnik Dinkjian, Sakis Karapeperis, Sophia Tzini, Cristo Karkanakis, and many others.