This journey has provided me with an education. The education has occurred because those who seek have always sought truth. In the case of my guest it was the stone truth of music and the musicians who made it.

The swing of Dixie and the marching bands. The Ed Bogas Soundtrack Machine and the clave beat of Cal Tjader. Boys turn to men because they believe they can play with the titans - no barriers, colorblind with the less said the better. Say it with your sticks.

More often as with my guest someone opened a door and he chose to walk through it. By walking through the door it opened a Gateway to new musical opportunities, gigs and tours. Being to loose to truck and sing for your supper.

My guest as with most from the Tribe did not forget the opportunities afforded to him by his mentors. He is the first one to recommend cats for gigs or cultivate the local music scene by hosting jam sessions in the Susquehanna Valley.  He learned this from Joe Henderson and Vince Guaraldi, Van Morrison and Phil Lesh.

My guest can play standards or free form music. He can hold it down even when there is no time, wood shedding for hours and then putting his own individual stamp on the music. Still keeping the beat after some 50 years of creation, Steve Mitchell welcome to the JFS.