Ty Perry’s first public appearance was with The Young Disciples when he was just 14 years old. The Young Disciples were a government funded big band youth organization that had professional musician mentors such as Sonny Stitt, Oliver Nelson and Rashaan Roland Kirk. That experience was a great help to get him his first professional performance at 15 with Smokey Robinson. Early in his career, he played with Motown recording artists such as The Spinners, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Joe Tex. Then, at 20 he went on the road with blues giant, Albert King. Ty toured the US with King for over 2 years.

Although “the road” was a great experience, Ty was more of a jazz saxophonist than blues and didn’t feel he was fully utilizing his talent. Albert used to say that he put too much jazz in his blues. Leaving the “road” to take violin lessons, he wanted to expand his repertoire to include classical violin. He took lessons for several years and played violin and viola with the Webster Symphony in his mid twenties.

Ty was an original member in the popular Saint Louis band Street Corner Symphony. When Street Corner Symphony disbanded, Ty played a few local groups including Fairchild. He also was also doing commercial session work and featured on videos for AT&T and the City of St. Louis until he left Saint Louis to pursue session / recording opportunities in Los Angeles.

While in LA, primarily working as a studio session player, he also regularly played local clubs mostly in the San Diego area. His most noteworthy appearance was on the American Music Awards with British singer Rick Ashley.

Other local Saint Louis bands Ty has contributed to over the years includes Ralph Butler, Stonebreaker, Fluid Drive and Charles Glenn.

After having played Alto sax for over 30 years, Ty began playing Akaie EWI (Electric Wind Instrument) in 1989 at a time when Michael Brecker introduced it to the sax community .

Influences: Michael Brecker, David Sanborn, Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Miles.