Alastair Ingram
Having lived in the Russian River area of Northern California for over 20 years, I call Sonoma County home. However, I was born in Dundee, Scotland. I came to this country in 1955, two years after my father came here and established himself. I was raised in West Allis, Wisconsin, near Milwaukee. I served four years in the United States Air Force, from 1967 to 1971.It wasn't until I got out of the service that I decided to learn to play the Saxophone. Starting at Solano Junior College in Fairfield, Ca., I studied with two professors who I consider my mentors, John Kolarik and David Froelich. I received my Associate in Arts degree there in 1973. Then I spent a year at San Francisco State University. They didn't recognize the Saxophone as a legitimate instrument, so I bided my time there studying privately with Danny Patiris. Danny was a great Saxophone player and a fine oboe player. He showed me the way to a fine tone.
In 1974, I transferred to Cal State Hayward, where I spent two years studying with one of the best classical Saxophone players I have ever heard, William Trimble. I studied jazz with Jeff Neighbors and Marv Nelson in 1976. Cal State Hayward was where I really grew as a musician. The next ten years found me living in Sonoma County where I tried many different musical endeavors. At age 36, I decided to go back to college. I attended classes at Sonoma State University, but took my master classes from Bill Trimble and performed my recitals at California State University, Hayward. In 1988, I received a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Saxophone Performance.
At that point I began my career as a musician by running away with the circus. I traveled with Circus Vargas for seven months. A very interesting job, to say the least. I played piccolo and alto Saxophone in a ten piece brass band. I then returned to Northern California where I started playing with a group called Crossroads. Playing top forty clubs, we worked five or six nights a week for three years. We then went on the road, traveling up and down the west coast, including a tour in British Columbia, Canada. After those exhausting experiences, I decided that road life was not for me, and settled back in Sonoma County in 1979.
While in Sonoma County, some of the bands I have played with include The Russian River All Stars, Bob Simmons New Exchange, The Gray Cats, True Slack and Grand Slam. Those are some that I remember anyway. While I was with Grand Slam, I was mainly a keyboard player! Imagine that! We were a rock and roll cover band, so it wasn't like I really had to play piano! A fun band, and it kept me in reed money. One of my more interesting gigs was working with Jim Boggio. That guy was a character! For two and a half years we played the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa every Friday and Saturday night. We were founding members of The Sonoma Swamp Dogs, led by Boggio. This was a cajun-zydeco band with some scary players! We played some very large venues, including a few gigs in Lake Tahoe. Our very first gig was opening for Asleep at the Wheel at the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa, Ca. That was big fun! Jim could play the heck out of the accordion and piano, and was one of the funniest people I ever knew. I learned a lot from Jim. Sadly, Jim passed away several years ago. Even though we had our ups and downs over our seven or eight years together, I still think of him almost daily. I will never forget him.
Among Sonoma County's vast variety of bands, I have filled in many times for Gator Beat, Blue Moon and The Poyntless Sistars, three well known local groups that are always a lot of fun. I have also played with the Jami Jamison Band, a popular local blues band. One of my all time favorite bands that I have been in has to be the Dave Brady Octet. It was three saxes, two trumpets and rhythm section. Dave was the drummer and arranger, and he was great at both. He played like Art Blakey! We played all straight ahead jazz from the "blue note" era. Of course, because we played jazz, we didn't get too many paying gigs. It was mainly a chance to play great music. It was a labor of love, I guess you'd say.
I have had the pleasure of playing with a few very famous players. Chet Baker was one of the greats in jazz, and I had the chance to play along side of him one night. One of the most notorious musicians to stalk the Russian River was Richie Cole. We played together on several occasions. To sum it up, in my twenty some years in this county, I have played, and still play with many of the great musicians who live here.
I now live in one of the most beautiful, scenic locations that I have ever seen. This is a place with giant redwoods, gorgeous landscapes and lush vineyards. I have recently married the woman of my dreams, bought a lovely home a quarter mile uphill from the Russian River, and live here with my wife and ten year old son. I keep up a schedule of thirty private students per week and play with a variety of local bands. My main group is called Metro. We are a six piece band that plays many styles, including swing, jazz standards, R & B, and top forty.