Bio

Hometown:	Dallas,TX
Employer:	Classical Baritone Jazz Vocalist

I was born on August 8, 1960 in Dallas, TX at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
My father and mother operated a barber & beauty shop in West Dallas for 49 years.
Although my father was a successful businessman, his first love was Big Band Jazz
such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton and especially The Count
Basie Orchestra with either Jimmy Rushing or Papa Joe Williams, whom I had the
privilege to meet after his last show in Dallas in 1999. This was my first introduction
to Jazz and "Oh My God!" the music I heard as a child, it was not unusual for my
family to sit and listen to anything from Roy Hamilton to The New York
Philharmonic w/ Leonard Bernstein to Sam Cooke to Sis. Mahalia Jackson to Ray
Charles to Jimmy Smith and of course, Mr. "B" Billy Eckstine !! We would even
listen to spoken word documentary type LPs like the one about the funeral of
President Kennedy. My uncle was a big advocate of "reading all the right books and
listening to all the right music". Coincidently I forgot to mention I was adopted at 6
months of age, so when I refer to my father and mother, I'm actually speaking of my
uncle and aunt, both of whom were 53 yrs. of age when they adopted both myself
and my brother. I guess that's why this music has always been my first love, I would
watch my family socialize, dance and enjoy themselves while listening to some of the
greatest Jazz recordings of all time!! You know one thing that people would never
guess about me is that I'm a really great dancer myself! Although I was adopted I still
had a real significant relationship with my biological father, who happened to be my
uncle's youngest brother. It was this relationship that introduced to the music of
Charlie Parker, because at the time I played the saxophone. I can remember knowing
my "Daddy" was visiting when I would come home from school and hear Eddie
"LockJaw" Davis playing 'Dobbin with Redd Foxx'. www.victorcager.com