Tiger Okoshi °75

As the story goes, Tiger Okoshi came upon Berklee
while on honeymoon in Boston, and, one might
assume, at that point the honeymoon was over. He
and his wife
and put the



ned in their return plane tickets
ney toward the trumpeter’s tuition.













ce, Okoshi began to play the trum-
because his school had a spare
e likelihood that mere coinci-
dence had t
dims by the t he had a longtime fasci-

begun when, at the

Music. Once
sit in with such

die Hubbard.

’80, Roy Haynes
sin H’88, Steve

Bennett H 74, Michael Franks,

5, Bela Fleck, Peter Erskine H’92,

e Stylistics, and Brad Delp of the
Boston. Okoshi’s own fusion ensemble,
u, has included Mike Stern, Bill Frisell
7, and Vinnie Colaiuta *75 and has recorded a
number of albums for JVC, including Tiger’s
Baku, Mudd Cake, Face to Face, Children of
Gravity, and That Was Then, This Is Now. He has
scored films for Cambridge Studios and WGBH-
TV, and was the subject of a 1988 documentary
produced by Eleanor Jewett for ‘"GBH, Tiger’s
Jazz. Okoshi has been recognized by the Hit
Record Awards, the Boston Music Awards, Boston
magazine’s Best of Boston, and the Collegiate Jazz
Festival (Notre Dame University).

John Repucci

Boston-bred bassist John Repucci earned his
B.M.Ed. from Lowell State College and studied at
Boston University. He now serves as Bass
Department Assistant Chair at Berklee. Repucci,
the regular bass player in Herb Pomeroy’s band
since 1983, has performed with Lionel Hampton,
Milt Jackson H’89, Urbie Green, Helen Humes,
Morgana King, Ray Bryant, Anita O’Day, Lee
Konitz, Mae Arnette, and Arnett Cobb, among
others. Repucci plays with the Tony Lada ["72]
and Larry Monroe [’70] group and appears on
their recent recording At Long Last, a collection
of Cole Porter tunes. He was the bassist for

Monroe’s earlier outfit, the Ted Pease [’66]/Larry
Monroe Big Band. His work with the Paul
Schmeling Trio includes the 1994 CD Stardust
and a recently recorded tribute to Frank Sinatra.
Repucci joined the Berklee faculty in 1972, and
has authored several texts on bass technique.

Ray Santisi °54

A testament to the pianist’s appeal, Peter Wolf,
singer/songwriter formerly of the blues/rock

J. Geil’s Band, told the Boston Globe last winter
that he tends to be a loner at Christmas but he
never misses Ray Santisi’s midnight mass party.
Santisi is, indeed, one of the most sought profes-
sors at Berklee, where he has taught for more than
40 years. He has been a featured pianist in perfor-
mance and on record with Stan Getz, Joe Williams
H’88, Milt Jackson H’89, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn,
Clark Terry, and Mel Torme, among others; and is
known as the “keyboard wizard” of the Herb
Pomeroy Orchestra. He has toured Scandinavia,
Japan, Europe, and the U.S. extensively. Santisi
has recorded with Capitol, Prestige, Sonnet,
Roulette, and United Artists; is the author of Jazz
Originals for Piano; and a National Endowment
for the Arts awards and grants recipient for per-
formance and composition.

Tommy Smith ‘86

Tenor saxophonist Tommy Smith began playing at
the age of 12 in school on a Scottish housing estate
near Edinburgh. By the time he was 15, Smith
earned acceptance to Berklee where he co-formed
Forward Motion; and three years later, on the rec-
ommendation of Chick Corea, Gary Burton enlist-
ed him in his own band. Smith signed to Blue Note
Records in 1989, and hosted a six-part television
series on BBC-TV the same year, playing with such
guests as Chick Corea, Tommy Flanagan, Bobby
Watson, John Taylor, and Gary Burton. He
explored his classical interests with a commission
from the Scottish Ensemble for a saxophone con-
certo with string orchestra in 1990, and has since
written several acclaimed compositions. Smith
recorded four discs for Blue Note—his first pro-
duced by Gary Burton, featuring Eddie Gomez,
Jack DeJohnette H’90, Mitch Forman, and John
Scofield *73—before moving to Linn Records in
1993. The year he changed labels, Smith served as
Composer-in-Residence at the Glasgow
International Jazz Festival where his Sonata for
Piano and Saxophone premiered. He is now a
member of the Joe Locke Quartet with Eddie
Gomez and Cindy Blackman ’80, and recently