The Experts
About The Experts
“Classic Rock You Like, But Don’t Hear Often Enough”
Any band that has the nerve to call itself “The Experts” had better deliver results right? While it’s true that all the band members have the kind of pedigree that earns them the moniker, the name came from an inside joke at rehearsals. This band is primarily the vision of its leader, Jim Latorre. A career of successes in his own field have led him to a place where he can play the music he wants to play with the best musicians he can find.
The mission of this band is simple. Put the music first. That means offering a great sounding live show that’s exciting to watch and listen to.
The resumes and accomplishments of the individual musicians are far too numerous to list. In short, the list includes worldwide concert tours, Grammy, Emmy and Academy award nominations, critical and popular acclaim.
Stylistically, the band draws most of its cover repertoire from popular songs from the late 1960’s through 1970’s. This was an era that often-used layered musical textures that involve multiple vocal harmonies and guitar parts. With 4 singers and 4 guitarists, the band can cover a lot of ground most bands can’t.
Videos
Dave Shaheen,
Vocals, Guitars
Dave Shaheen started performing professionally in 1979, after a few years in a basement band. He's been playing guitar and singing professionally ever since. Shaheen performed regularly with Boston's favorite TV Cowboy Rex Trailer, and acclaimed guitarist Jon Finn, including a performance at Boston’s Hatch Shell. Dave currently plays guitar and sings in a duo with Jon Finn as “The Guitar Guys.” This year, the Guitar Guys joined Ernie Boch, Jr., for two performances, including one at the Berklee Performance Center in April, opening for Warren Haynes, and also performed with the Metrowest Symphony in March of this year. Dave, Jon, and the Experts kicked off their live shows at the Paradise in Boston in 2014, and began serving as the live band for Boston broadcasting personality Mikey Adam’s Internet TV show earlier this year.
Dave worked as Rex Trailer’s assistant professor at Emerson College for 6 year, has been a high school media teacher from 1995 to the present, and has served as video specialist for the Boston Pops Orchestra 2012 to present.
Jon Finn,
Guitars, Vocals
A guitarist since age six, Jon Finn has been a professional musician for most of his life. Joining the guitar faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1988, he started the Jon Finn Group later that same year. To date, they have two internationally released CDs, Don't Look So Serious (Legato Records 1994), Wicked (SEP Records 2000), several independent releases, and countless performances worldwide under their belts. For over three years, Jon wrote a monthly instructional feature for a national magazine called Guitar. Jon has also authored several books for Mel Bay Publications: “Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation”, “One Guitar, Many Styles”, “Blues/Rock Improvisation”, “Riffs: Volume One”, and a few more currently in production. Today Jon frequently performs and records with the Boston Pops Orchestra. With them he’s performed with Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Amy Grant, Vince Gill, Rockapella, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Natalie Cole, Carly Simon, Bernadette Peters, New York Voices and many others. He’s been involved in a plethora of concerts and recording sessions, including 6 CDs (two of which were Grammy nominated), 8 US concert tours, and one tour in Asia.
One of his songs, “Berlin Wall” appears in the motion picture release “Refusenik”, a documentary about Soviet Jews and their struggle to escape to the US during the Cold-War era. Jon’s guitar is heard on the NFL Theme Song during the football season.
JFG just released their 3rd new full-length CD “Bull in a China Shop” (SEP Music) and is quietly gaining quite a lot of steam purely on “word-of-mouth.”
Jon’s latest project is to turn his website jonfinn.com into a formidable information center for modern rock guitarists.
Jon spends his spare time with his family.
Steve Carro,
Vocals
Steve pretty much has been singing professionally since he exited his mothers womb in 1958. He has performed with various Rock, Funk and Blues bands in the New England area, for over 40 years. For the last 5 years Steve has been the front man for Sharky, a high energy and powerful classic rock and soul cover band.
"To me, singing in a band is like being on a cool sports team. Everyone has to work together to make the music happen and when the chemistry is there, look out. Music has also allowed me to meet a ton of cool folks along the way and make long lasting friendships and play with some of the areas best musicians."
When not up on stage, Steve is a multi award winning News Videographer in the Boston broadcast news market.
In his spare time, Steve just enjoys living life everyday.
Jim Latorre,
Guitars
Jim began his career in the investment industry over thirty years ago when he started within the Investment Banking area of Merrill Lynch in New York. He moved on to Boston to become VP of Investments and Portfolio Manager with the Ivy Funds. Jim has been a member of the Northern Cross team since 1992, first as Director of Research and subsequently as a Portfolio Manager in the mid 1990’s. Jim received his BA in Economics from Fairfield University and his MS in Finance from Boston College where he earned the Dean and Faculty Award given to the highest ranking student. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston College.
Jim spends his free time with family and on interests that include music and outdoor activities. He is also a Trustee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. With all of his successes in business, he always played guitar with the same level of ferocity that he does everything else.
Jim decided he wanted to play and perform music at a level of quality equal to any professionally touring act. To do this, he’s teamed up with a great group of musicians; each with impressive resumes of their own.
Juli Finn,
Vocals, Guitars
Juli Finn is a Songwriter, Recording Artist, Guitarist, Recording Session Guitarist, and a Guitar Instructor. She was a founding member of the instrumental trio Destiny and has played live nationally, opening for artists such as Joe Satriani, Robin Trower, Ronnie James Dio, and Blue Oyster Cult. She has released a full length CD with Destiny and two solo recordings, an EP in 2011 and a Full Length CD in 2012. She has won numerous guitar competitions including Joe Satriani’s Whooznxt, hosted by Guitar Center in 2012, and Lincoln Brewster’s Show Me What You Got in 2010. Her YouTube Channel has over 6,000 subscribers and 1,460,000 views. Before moving to Boston she played for the Pacific Northwest’s premiere dance band, The Rhythm Nation and the Disco/Funk sensation, DanceMaxx Band. She is currently earning her Master of Arts Degree in Songwriting from Berklee College of Music.
Rich Cesarini, Keys
Rich Cesarini has been a well-known piano/keyboard/accordion player since the mid 1980's. He has played and recorded with many bands in New England including the Fat City Band, Po'Boys, Godsends, Big Daddy and the Accelerators, the popular Grateful Dead cover band Deadbeat, and NH favorites Brickyard Blues. Rich played keyboards on Bus Hair, a track from Jon Finn's release "Don't Look So Serious." In addition to his keyboard duties in The Experts, Rich also plays for The Terrifics, an acoustic duo based on the south shore of MA.
Most recently, Rich opened his own music school known as “Southeast School of Music” in Easton, MA
Joe Santerre,
Electric Bass
Joe Santerre plays primarily 6 string electric bass. He is the bassist in the Jon Finn Group. Joe has been teaching in the Bass Department at Berklee College of Music since 1984 and is the first primarily 6 string bass player in the department. For seven years he was a contributing writer for Bass Frontiers Magazine. Also, Joe has published three bass books for Berklee Press/Hal Leonard Publications. He has recorded instructional bass video lessons for Jamplay.com. and has a solo CD, “The Scenic Route”. Joe has recorded and/or performed with Jon Finn, Guthrie Govan, Carmen Paris, Chad Wackerman, (Alan Holdsworth, Zappa), Mike Mangini (Dream Theater) Dave DiCenso (JFG, Hiromi) Larry Finn, Mark Walker (Paquito D'Rivera), Danny McClain (Earth Wind & Fire), Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs), Steve Hunt (Stanley Clarke, Alan Holdsworth), George Garzone, John Blackwell (Prince, Justin Timberlake), Casey Schuerell (Jean Luc Ponty), Equie Castillo (Tito Puente),Tom Coster (Santana), Dino Govoni, and Ross Ramsay among others. Joe likes to make the groove feel good! He spends his free time with family & nature.
Larry Finn, Drums
Though he has no relation to Jon, the musical rapport he and Jon create together is a reflection of Larry’s unique, empathetic, and enthusiastic drumming style. Larry is one of the most popular drum instructors on the Berklee College of Music faculty and a very well-known freelance drummer with credits ranging from The Courage Brothers and Tiger Okoshi to Rent. Recently, Larry released an instructional drumming video called Accelerate Your Drumming for Rittor Music that has brought his personal drumming style acclaim all over the world.
"Being a drummer is like being a professional athlete in that you have to be in shape both physically and mentally. A lot of people, when they see a drummer playing a repetitive groove for three minutes, might not realize how hard that is to do. It's difficult to put the whole package—good technique and a musical approach—together."