Few, if any, carry their passion for THE music as far as Earl has. To savor the flavor of that music, he, along with his late wife, Alice, maintained homes in the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans, as well as in the re-birthplace of that jazz, the Bay Area—at the same time. This love of the music is shown when he performs.

One might get the idea that music is in his DNA, Earl describing his father as an 'old-time fiddle player'. Earl spent his early years in the Northwest. Born in one of the cheese capitals of the country, Tillamook, Oregon, Earl was raised in Oregon (Bay City and Eugene) and Washington (Seattle). At age seven, he sought to follow his father, trying his skill on the violin. In Seattle in 1948, he found the music that he would love for a lifetime.

Today, Earl appears with a number of bands besides the Jelly Roll Jazz Band. These include the Funky New Orleans Jazz Band, Zenith J.B., Monterey Classic J.B., Goodtime Levee Stompers and the Black Diamond J.B. He also leads the Zenith New Orleans Parade Band and the Funky New Orleans band

When he's not playing or spending time in New Orleans, you might find Earl keeping cars that are one of the Bay Area's favorites, Volkswagens, in good shape at a shop in Berkeley.