Alastair Ingram
Instruments: Tenor, Alto, Soprano Saxophones, Flute, Piccolo and Clarinet
Alastair has lived in the Russian River area of Northern California
for over 25 years. Born in Dundee, Scotland, he came to this country
in 1955 at the age of six.
It was after serving, from 1967 to 1971, in the United States
Air Force that he decided to learn to play the Saxophone.
Starting at Solano Junior College in Fairfield, Ca., Alastair
studied with two professors who he still considers his mentors,
John Kolarik and David Froehlich. David Froehlich is a pianist
extraordinaire. John Kolarik was a low brass man, but is now
playing stand up bass. After two years under their tutelage, he
received his Associate in Arts degree there in 1973.
After a year at San Francisco State University, studying
privately with Danny Patiris, Bennet Friedman, Charlie McCarthy
and Jim Dukey, Alastair transferred to Cal State Hayward.
At CSUH Alastair spent two years studying with classical
Saxophone player William Trimble. After an additional year
studying jazz with Jeff Neighbors, Hal Stein, Joe Henderson and
Marv Nelson, a series of master classes with William Trimble,
and numerous recitals, in 1988 he received his Bachelor of
Arts degree in Music with a concentration in
Saxophone Performance. He plays tenor, soprano and alto sax,
also flute, clarinet and piccolo.
In Sonoma County, some of the bands Alastair has played with
include The Russian River All Stars,
Bob Simmons New Exchange,The Dave Brady Octet, The Gray
Cats, True Slack, Grand Slam,
Metro and The Sonoma Swamp Dogs. He has
played hundreds of casual gigs with various local musicians.
Among Sonoma County's vast variety of bands, Alastair has filled
in many times for Gator
Beat,
Blue Moon, two well known local groups. Alastair's
main group, , The Blue
Moon Band is a ten piece band that plays many styles,
including swing, jazz standards, R & B, and top forty.
Alastair currently maintains a schedule of 30 students in Santa Rosa and
Sebastopol.
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