On August 19th, 1979, Soviet Cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakov and Valery Ryumin unknowingly brought a stowaway on their spaceship, the soul of a little boy named Aaron, who landed in Boulder, Colorado. Struggling to come to terms with his newfound existence as a space soul trapped on Earth, Aaron found solace in expressing his cosmic emotions through music. He saved up his allowance and purchased a small Casio keyboard, a $30 toy, which was a wondrous technological and artistic portal that filled him with joy as he listened to the electronic "samba" beats and analog "rock" rhythms programmed into the toy. However, when he was seven tragedy struck when his favorite Michael Jackson cassette tape was devoured by an evil boom box, leaving him heartbroken and crying on the floor. Despite this setback, Aaron's love for music only grew stronger, and it was around this time that he discovered his lifelong passion for the guitar.
His adoptive Earthling mother recognized his talent and bought him a guitar, enrolling him in lessons at the age of seven. Over the years, he explored a range of musical styles, from thumb-picking and power chords to jazz and classical. He ventured into Trini steel drum music, playful swing, bluegrass, and any other folk style he could listen to. On one fateful day his life was changed when he was confronted with the compositions and the virtuosity of gypsy jazz guitarist Gonzalo Bergara. The music hit him like a brick to the head, and made him reconsider the possibilities of sound, virtuosity and unbridled creativity.
Aaron's passion for music led him to pursue a degree in music composition, where he earned a Masters in Theory and Composition.
While at first his compositions were a wild cacophonous sound blending the influences of swing, impressionism, classical, choro, tango, samba, bluegrass and soca, his professors and instructors through his masters programs beat, whipped, scorned, and humiliated him, forging him into a sharp multifaceted Damascus steel slicing through the nonsense and getting right to the story. While certainly Aaron appreciated the beatings, whippings, and humiliations dealt out by his academic professors, Aaron feels his true and most meaningful education came from playing alongside the many talented Gypsy Jazz artists he had the privilege of performing with, including his two heroes and mentors, Joscho Stephan and Gonzalo Bergara.
The adventures for Aaron continued as he scored a feature-length score for a Regional Emmy-nominated sports documentary, performed with Iceland's guitar hero Bjorn Thoroddsen in Iceland, and spent time in the USCG reserves as a boat engineer on a search and rescue team. However, the biggest adventure was marrying his wife and adopting their two sons, who inspire all the music he plays. Aaron's journey is a testament to the fact that true passion for music can lead to a lifetime of joy, fulfillment, and adventure.
What's adventure comes next? Well. . . that is up to you. . . Pound the contact button and let's see where this adventure will goes. . .
