A native New Yorker, Sam Oatts is currently enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music and is due to graduate in May '03. He has traveled across Europe and the United States as a soloist, in orchestras, various chamber groups, and Big Bands. He has performed brass chamber music with members of the Canadian Brass, Philip Jones Brass ensemble, Summit Brass, and is a current member of the West Side Brass Quintet. He has also performed early music with Ken Cooper, Aprile Millo, Justin Bischoff, and Lucy Arner among others. Sam regularly involves himself in contemporary music, including the works of Ted Hearne and Yes Is a World. He is a founding member of the infamously loud punk band in it's seventh year, 3 Monkeys Named "Bob", in which he is the bassist and vocalist. The group has independently released one full-length and one split e.p. . They have also gone on numerous tours in true DIY fashion.