Biographies
Michael (Dudz) Dudzinski
Bass Guitar
Musically, Dudz started the night he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. They have continued to have an impact on him. He's been playing an instrument for over 45 years now! He played the accordion from third grade through high school, following in his uncle and Godfather's footsteps who played in a band. As a child, he use to sit by the stage and watch him. (There were many weddings in his family!) He's been playing the bass for over 35 years.
Dudz has 3 great loves in types of music: Rock, Blues and Jazz. When he watched the first Charlie Brown TV special around 1965, he was hooked on Vince Guaraldi and jazz music. His greatest rock influences have always been The Doors and The Who, with a little Hendrix thrown in. Blues and Rock/Blues Bass influences are Jack Bruce of Cream and John Paul Jones of Led Zepplin. Then, when Sting in The Police came out, he was blown away by his cool rock/jazz style. His smooth jazz likings are The Rippingtons and Spira Gyro and he has also continued to enjoy The Cars, Cheap Trick and other eighties bands.
Dudz has been in quite a few bands: wedding, polka, rock, jazz, and many nameless show and production bands. They have ranged from The JazzMen in Pensacola, FL to Sativa in New Jersey. During college in Newark, NJ, he was lucky enough to play for a Broadway director and writer, Bill Gile (1976 Tony Award, Best Direction of a Musical for "Very Good Eddie"). Dudz played for a couple of musicals that Gile produced and directed at the college as a way for potential Broadway investors to back his productions. It was an experience to play for professional broadway actors and singers! His playing continued even after joining the Navy as a pilot, playing in bands when deployment schedules allowed, and playing at Church so he could still be "musically" connected.
After retiring from the Navy in 1998, Dudz began flying for an airline and found that he had time to play in a band again. He formed a band called "Fusion" that started out as a smooth jazz type of band that quickly took on a dimension of its own and has gone through many members. Enough changes in members and music style, that the band decided to change their name to "zero2sixty", reflective of their rock style!
And it still continues...though "band" is a 4-letter word that should not be spoken in his house! Dudz is originally from New Jersey... Oklahoma since 1993.
