Bob Cullinen

About

I graduated from Burlingame High School during the peak of the San Francisco Sound; Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Steve Miller Band, Janis Joplin, etc. My friends and I went to the Fillmore and Avalon to see some of the best bands of the Sixties music revolution. I played in a high school rock band hoping to get recognized by a record company. That was a bit of a pipe dream for me as well as many young teens. My mother was also a great influence on music ambitions. She was always playing the piano and singing popular music of the Forties as well as Broadway hits as I was growing up. One of her best friends in high school was Paul Desmond who wrote the iconic jazz hit, Take Five. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that loved and played music. My four brothers and I were always talking about the latest albums to hit the record stores. It was almost inevitable that I would go to college to get a degree in music. I did just that with a focus on vocal music and songwriting. My primary instrument is piano. I am also a singer who has performed in the genres of rock , jazz, and opera! I performed my college Senior Recital with a set of 10 original songs played by a jazz ensemble with 3 female vocalists. That event marked the beginning of a long music career. I chose a more practical path, however, by getting a teaching credential. I taught Choir and Band classes as well as Music Appreciation at the high school level. I wrote arrangements and original pieces for choir and band. I also did the music direction for numerous Broadway Musicals. During my teaching career of 40 years, I played in a variety of bands. I still love playing jazz standards with a horn section. My high school friends and I will play an occasional reunion falling back on the songs of our youth. I created an album of original songs in the late 80's called Ordinary Guy. I was trying to get my songwriting career off the ground.....I knocked on doors in Hollywood at some of the largest record companies. But I learned a difficult lesson. As much as some producers liked my music, the world of popular music is looking for an image to sell as well as a style. I was not that guy! Sometimes it comes down to who you know, not how talented you may be. As my teaching career expanded, I chose to make music my avocation. Having a family of my own with three boys, I couldn't pursue a musician's life on the road with late nights and long weekends. However, I continued to write music throughout my teaching career, both vocal and instrumental. Much of that music has been collecting dust over the years. Once I retired from teaching, I immediately jumped into making albums of the many songs that had never been shared. Since 2018, I have 5 albums of original music; one vocal and four instrumental. The instrumental albums are very attuned to Latin Jazz. But there is also thematic music underlying the innocence of children and the mysteries of life. I am currently working on a 6th album which is my most eclectic yet. I could not have produced these albums without the help of my very talented friend, Tim Haggerty. He is an outstanding performer and arranger. He has taken my music and made it blossom. We use Logic Pro X to lay down our tracks and mix and master. Tim is a real pro with that program. We will continue to work together as long as have an audience who can appreciate the subtleties of music listening. The following albums are on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, and more: Child Within (2018), Islas Del Sol (2019), Islas De La Luna (2019), Down Time (2019), Musical Dreams (2020), and Treasure Chest (2021) I've always believed in the adage, 'Music Is the Voice Of the Heart'......when words cannot express, music finds a way. Show less