Welcome and hello!

I have been playing music most of my life. I started playing guitar at 12 and began playing professionally at 15. I realized early on that I wanted to pursue a career in music and began to study rock and classical guitar. I decided to study music at Fresno City college in 1983. While I was still playing rock and pop gigs outside of school, playing in the groups at the college had a very meaningful effect on me.

This experience introduced me to jazz, Latin music and orchestral playing which I began to study with great enthusiasm. I started playing in jazz groups in the Fresno area and giving lessons in guitar and music theory. I was able to earn a living by playing and teaching and have done so ever since.

I began playing the upright bass so I could play in the school's orchestra but there were jazz groups and small combos I could play string bass in as well. I took every opportunity I could to improve my playing and musicianship.

Soon after I took up the bass, I started composing music. This led me to move to Southern California to study music composition and bass performance at Chapman University. After my studies at Chapman I received my Master's degree in music composition and bass performance at the University of California, Irvine.

After graduating from UCI in 1997 I joined the faculty at several colleges and universities. I feel as though I have come full circle in my path to be teaching the same subjects that I enjoyed so much as a student. I have worked very hard to establish myself as a freelance bassist, session player and a committed educator. I am very happy to say that I love every aspect of what I do. 

Martin.