So Tony’s introduction to jazz began during his collegiate years, way back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Grover Washington Jr., George Benson, Sonny Fortune, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, the Crusaders, Ronnie Laws, and Ella Fitzgerald were but a few of the luminaries whose artistry he personally experienced by the time he graduated from Hampton Institute in ‘81 and Howard University School of Law in ‘84.

And how did his real immersion in America’s classical music begin? Well, let him tell you the story himself:

In the late ’90s and early ‘00s, I frequently traveled to Northern California for professional and family get-togethers. One of my recurring rituals, when I was especially flush with cash, I dubbed “the Pillage and Plunder of Telegraph Avenue.”

In Berkeley in those days, two of the pre-eminent businesses on that street were music stores with substantial used-CD collections: Amoeba and Rasputin. On those flush days, I’d walk into the store, head for the jazz section, and vacuum up as many CDs as time and finance permitted—usually between 15 and 20 at a time. After the fourth of fifth such raid, I quit counting. I still have every one of those CDs; along with my online playlists, they’re the core of my music library. (Come to think of it, I’m way overdue for a return trip. Both stores are still in business!!)

Tony relocated to Miami on March 28, 1988, at a time when this town was considered a jazz wasteland. It’s been one of his life’s delights to see Miami become more of a destination for the legends, as well as an emerging laboratory for young and upcoming talent. As a longtime volunteer at WDNA, one of his greatest delights is in assisting at the monthly Jazz Encounters, where the region’s youngest talents get to strut their stuff under the watchful eye of some of the region’s most respected teachers and artists.

So what does Tony do with his J.D.? He’s a criminal defense attorney by title. (Translated: he makes the Bill of Rights work for those who cannot do so for themselves.) Most of all, he’s the proud papa to Mojo and Ranger, two of the best shelter mutts a man could ever want.

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