My Cousin Vince

The Denham-Miller, side of my family has some musical talent. My father's mother was a concert pianist. She passed on her musical ability to several of us. But only one of her descendants has taken his talent all the way.

My cousin, Vince Denham, has been playing sax since he was like 8 or 9 years old. He also plays flute and keyboard. He's played and/or recorded with the likes of Vince Guaraldi, Loggins and Messina, (and Loggins after the two broke up) John Tesh, Elton John, and Don Ellis (who wrote a song for him called..."Invincible") to name just a few. But the person he plays with most often, and who is a personal friend (you know like their families get together and have bar-b-ques in each others back yard, that kind of personal friend) is Michael McDonald.

I don't know how long the two have been playing together, but it's been a while. Not long ago the band played at the Reichhold Center on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas. Cousin Vince called up my sister Erva and made sure she had tickets to see the show.

I like being able to brag that I have a cousin who is a professional musician, who has been playing all his life, and who has played with so many well known artists. All of us Denhams, whether we have the music gene or not, get to live vicariously through him.

So, I thought I'd share him with all of you. Below is a video with Michael McDonald from a few years ago. Cousin Vince opens and closes the song.