Gary E started his musical life early with piano lessons from his aunt on the family farm in northern Wisconsin. He continued lessons in Milwaukee at the age of seven. (The piano teacher lived upstairs in our apartment building!) The trumpet came along at age ten and in high school Gary toured with a 10 piece RB group around the Midwest. Playing the Iola Rock Festival was a considerablehigh point for the band. After high school he and some of the group members made their way to the West Coast and wound up performing on a Smithsonian Blues and Folk Festival recording featuring Furry Lewis. Later moving to NYC Gary played in various rehearsal bands while taking lessons from alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. Getting a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music he moved to Boston and graduated with a degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging. Gary has since moved back and forth to the Midwest where he has written music for PBS documentaries and has played in several bands.