Jason, originally from Brooklyn, New York, started piano lessons at age 7. Briefly leaving the NYC area, he went on to co-found the Buffalo-based rock/pop band “TDM”. Insisting on original music, the female-fronted quintet quickly garnered local attention, appearing on local radio and television’s Eyewitness News. After their studio debut, TDM went on to perform extensively in the western NY area, and opened for Helen Reddy, The Scintas, and Ronnie Milsap, among others.

Jason, as a music major, then co-founded the reggae/ska/funk group, “The Groovy Buddhas” in the Schenectady/Albany area. Their James Brown-inspired song “Shake Your Butt” earned them significant local college airplay, and before long the group was playing extensively in Albany, Saratoga Springs, and NYC- including being invited to play at CBGB.

During his college and graduate school years, Jason also was quite involved in the college a cappella scene, performing, directing and arranging for several groups, which ultimately led to a performance in Carnegie Hall. Jason was also privileged to be a part of a multi-university performance of Mozart’s Requiem with a professional orchestra at West Point Military Academy’s beautiful chapel. Jason regards this as one of his favorite non-rock band experiences. Another high point during this time was studying traditional Japanese music while living in Osaka, Japan.