SKIP ELLIOTT BOWMAN – After taking lessons on piano and cello, Skip went on to teach himself bass fiddle, soprano saxophone, guitar, drums, trumpet, bass guitar, French horn, shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), synthesizer, tuba, trombone, vibes, marimba, flugelhorn, bouzouki, and baritone horn.

He has toured Europe and has performed across the United States (including Carnegie Hall and Washington Park in New York City), Canada, Mexico, Spain, and the Caribbean. In 1998 he taught himself steel pan and pays regular visits to the West Indies to research, collect, and play music.

Skip has studied music with Ray Brown, Red Mitchell, Leroy Vinnegar, Richard Davis, David Friesen, Victor Wooten, and Glen Moore. He has performed in a wide variety of musical groups, including 3 Leg Torso, Obo Addy and Kukrudu/Okropong, I & I Reggae, El Conjunto Alegre, La Mayor Salsa Orchestra, Andrew Hill, Pete Christlieb, Diane Shuur, Mazeltov Orchestra, Oomph Klezmer Orchestra, La Cuarto Tango, Braziliance, Herb Ellis, John Stowell, Nancy King, Richie Cole, James Williams, and Teddy Edwards. He leads his own jazz group Skip Elliott Bowman and Friends, the flamenco ensemble Pendar i Paya, and is the featured soloist in the Pan-Caribbean ensemble The Instigators Calypso Orchestra.

In his spare time Skip is a published travel writer and photographer for national magazines, scuba diver, and guest lecturer in elementary and high schools. He is madly in love with his wife of ten years, Jo Ann.

e-mail: skipster@teleport.com