One of his earliest memories that confirmed his passion for the drum set was hearing Buddy Rich play in 1971 with an 18-piece big band. At some point it all just becomes music, and to pin point exactly where an inspiration comes from is impossible. Seeing live music performed was also very important to my development as a musician. Listening to how a band plays together and backs up a soloist or a vocalist is so important. There are so many lessons to learn from the people who just keep on doing it and don't care about putting a label on it.
Good music is good music.
While attending college in Ithaca, New York in 1972, Jon began playing with a musical theatre and dance group from Cornell University led by former James Brown pianist Curtis Taylor. For the next two years he performed at colleges and concert halls throughout the Northeast and opened shows for a number of major acts, including The Temptations, New Birth, Curtis Mayfield, and Edgar Winter. There was another wave of music during that era, with pioneers like Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind And Fire, and Kool And The Gang. The syncopated horn lines and vocal harmonies inherent in their music strongly influenced the direction of Jon's playing. After leaving Ithaca, he continued his studies at Boston University and The Berklee College Of Music.