A third-generation jazz musician, Dobson credits his parents with providing his initial musical inspiration. He and his younger sister, vocalist Sasha Dobson, were barely in grade school when they became gigging musicians with the family band, performing widely in classrooms in the Santa Cruz area and South Bay. By the time he was in junior high, Dobson was a regular busker on Santa Cruz’s Pacific Garden Mall in a duo with trombonist Scott Larson.
Like many young musicians, Dobson was something of a social misfit. When most of his peers were just starting to figure out their musical tastes, he was holding down the drum chair at a jam session led by the inventive pianist Graham Connah. He escaped from high school by passing the General Education Development exam, and continued his studies with the highly regarded educator Ray Brown at Cabrillo College in Aptos.
Link
John Scofield Marvin Smitty »« Bringing Jazz to Education
