Dean began playing saxophone at age nine and continued his entire secondary education years studying music, listening to jazz, and performing with and leading small groups. After graduation, Dean attended Indiana University of PA, where he studied Music Education in the mid 80's, until leaving IUP to pursue his other love... running supermarkets. Dean has studied saxophone performance, jazz, theory, and improvisation with Tim Price, Dr. John Kuehn, Joe Miller, "Saxie" Shollenberger and John Morris, and has performed and recorded with local groups in eastern PA, including "The Bentonites", "On the Run", and many others. After a long layoff from the local music scene, while raising children, and a hectic schedule as a corporate executive, Dean realized he still had to satisfy his passion to play and perform and started seeking out new or exciting projects. Dean has quickly become a highly sought after saxophonist for everything from solo projects to his own jazz fusion band and BBT. On stage, Dean brings an energy level, passion and enthusiasm for the music that few others can convey, and drives that passion right into the listeners ears with every note he plays. Dean's playing is heavily influenced by the likes of saxophonists David Sanborn, Grover Washington Jr., Bob Berg and Michael Brecker.