EARL V. BELCHER JR. BIOGRAPHY:

EDUCATION:
M.S., Management - State University of New York at Oswego

B.A., Business Administration - St. Bonaventure University

Doctoral Candidate, Organizational Leadership - University of Phoenix

MUSIC:

Professional saxophonist for eighteen years. Played in four jazz groups in Syracuse, New York: Bernie Upson Trio (Bernie was a bassist for Illinois Jacquet), John Betsy Quintet, Chris Jones Quintet (Chris is Philly Joe Jones’ son and is also a drummer) and Mike Fox Quartet (Mike was a drummer for Illinois Jacquet). Now located in Albany, New York.

Studied saxophone in Syracuse, New York with Rocco Barbato, Joe Carello and Terrance Bruce (saxophonist with Cabo Frio), and in New York City with Charles Davis, Ron Blake, Eric Alexander and currently with Javon Jackson; attended Jimmy Heath and Joe Lovano saxophone workshops in New York City.

Proficient on piano; composes original tunes. Also plays Drums, Guitar, Trumpet and Bass.

I am originally from Queens, but my dad was transferred from General Motors in New York City and we moved to Syracuse when I was six years old. I grew up playing sports (baseball, football, hockey, tennis, golf and basketball). I excelled at tennis, golf and basketball through high school. I thought in Junior High that I was going to be the next Charlie Stanford or Lee Elder, who were the only African American golfers on the PGA tour at that time, and also the next Arthur Ashe, who was the greatest tennis player of our time.

I grew from 5' 6" to 6' 1" in seventh grade, to 6' 3" by eighth grade, to 6’ 5” by ninth grade and was 6' 6" by senior year of high school, which is not very unusual since both my parents are 6' tall. Basketball was a given in my neighborhood if you were that tall, so I went with the flow and played. I became an All-American High School Basketball player and went on to become an All-American College Basketball Player at St. Bonaventure University (Bob Lanier is the school's most famous player). I did break his scoring records, though, and played for the San Antonio Spurs behind George Gervin in 1981-82. My career ended when I broke all the bones in my right ankle. I also played on the golf and tennis teams in high school and college.

What I am most proud of is that I graduated with my class at St. Bonaventure University with a degree in Business Management. After my professional Basketball career was over, I came back to Syracuse and started working for my High School Basketball coach, who was a Manager at Niagara Mohawk Gas and Electric Company. I then started my Masters in Business in 1995, and graduated in 1999 with a Masters in Business Management from the State University of New York at Oswego. The company that I worked for went through a downsizing and my department was eliminated, so now I am planning to get my Doctorate in Management in Organizational Leadership from the University at Albany.