I started studying my first instrument (saxophone) in elementary school, but things really changed for me when I found my first guitar at a garage sale and brought it home to start a band with some classmates. My approach to learning music combined the traditional education I received through primary and secondary education with the vernacular approach of the various blues-descended genres I love to play (rock, jazz, funk, ska, americana, etc.). I’ve managed to continue that balance in my educational approach through continuing study that has led me to dive deeper into notation, technology, and linguistics and their relationship to our musical understanding.

I primarily play and perform with my band The New Limits, in which I play sax, guitar, and write and produce music. Additionally, my solo project Baze Blackwood is an outlet for my explorations into electronic music, audio production, recording, and composition. I’m lucky to have had a number of instructors and mentors over the years who have helped me broaden my musical horizons. This has led to me sharing a stage with some of the same musicians who inspired me to create in the first place, and to play in front of audiences hundreds of miles from home.

My style of teaching includes helping students find their own voice on their instrument; exploring theoretical musical models specific to their interests; and developing skills to allow effective collaboration with others in a musical setting. We seek to achieve this through improvisation, transcription, vocalization, and interpretation. The primary engine of curiosity should be powered by what the student is interested in, and then creating connections between the theoretical and practical.

  • Performance Certificate Berklee College of Music
  • Associate of Arts at Southern New Hamsphire University
  • Bachelor of Arts in Musicology at Lesley University (self-directed, current)