Background and Education
I was born in New Jersey in 1966, and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I started out playing trombone in school band and ended up sticking with it through my first year of music school in college. I first became interested in playing the guitar upon hearing records by the Beatles as a teenager. Later I became interested in jazz and classical music and sought study with Randy Wimer before deciding to continue my studies in college. I received a bachelors degree in jazz studies from the University of North Texas, where I studied under Jack Petersen, Phillip Hii, and Rick Peckham. I also received a masters degree in jazz performance from the University of Miami, where I worked as the school's graduate teaching assistant for jazz guitar majors and studied under Randall Dollahon. While at the University of Miami, I was a member of the U of M Concert Jazz Band. As a member of this group, I had the opportunity to perform with jazz greats Randy Brecker and Bob Mintzer.

More recently I visited Boston and took a lesson with one of my heroes, Mick Goodrick, and got considerable food for thought that I'm still in the process of digesting. I currently teach privately and have taught as a music professor at Broward Community College and Florida Atlantic University.

In 2002 I made a move from Palm Beach county to Hollywood, FL, and I've returned to teaching college part time, at Miami/Dade College (south campus in Kendall) and also at the New World High School of the Arts in Miami.

Performances
I've been performing in the South Florida area since 1990 as a freelance guitarist, playing gigs and recording sessions for Nicole Yarling, Jeff Taylor, Rick Krive, Hal Roland, Savana, Valerie Z and Paris, David Schanzer, Rueben Hoch and RH Factor, The Chassidic Jazz Project, and others.

I've also played as a sideman for shows with popular performers such as Vic Damone and Florence Henderson. I often perform solo jazz and classical guitar. I've led my own groups, including the Tom Lippincott trio, and I was co-leader of the group Bluez Imbabwe with vocalist Adriana Samargia.
In order to make a living as a guitarist over the years I've had to play a lot of different styles and in a lot of different situations. Luckily, although my "first love" has always been jazz (and I seem to find myself gravitating most often toward performing and associating with musicians of a similar mindset) I love and appreciate a lot of different styles of music.
I have played everything from classical to country, blues and rock, to Latin, reggae and top 40, and have usually found something to enjoy and/or learn from every situation. In fact, I feel that my exposure to these diverse styles of music has given my jazz playing and composing (and general musicianship) a much greater depth.

Recordings, Compositions, and Accolades
The 1990 release "Extra Strength" by the group Active Ingredient is currently available from Bainbridge Records, and features my playing, as well as five of my compositions.
The CD is available from many record and online stores.
I was the winner of the jazz category of Guitar Player Magazine's 1992 Ultimate Guitar Competition, and I was featured as artist of the month in the magazines' Spotlight column.
My composition, "Turn Your Head and Cough" was featured on a compilation tape of the Ultimate Guitar Competition winners.
I was also a member of the 1994 Sunfest All-stars, and in 1998 I performed as a member of RH Factor at the Hollywood Jazz Festival with special guest Dave Liebman. I've also shared the stage as a member of the Chassidic Jazz Project with Bobby Thomas Jr. and Don Friedman.
I wrote music for a student film entitled "The Only Way Out" and hope to do more film/video scoring in the future.

In 2002 I received an honorable mention in the JazzConnect jazz competition for my solo guitar version of "Green Dolphin Street."
I have one CD out with my trio, released in 2000, and entitled "Painting the Slow Train Brown."
The CD, which consists of my original post modern jazz compositions and performances, and which features longtime collaborators Randy Ward on bass, John Yarling on drums, and special guest Nicole Yarling on violin, is available at CCNow. The trio was recently featured at the West Palm Beach Jazz festival, and we are in the process of recording some new material featuring my 8 string guitar for an upcoming 2nd CD release.