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 La Torre. 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 featured layered musical textures involving multiple vocal harmonies and guitar parts. With 5 singers and 4 guitarists, the band can cover a lot of ground most bands can't.

Band Members

Dave Shaheen

Lead Vocals/Backup Vocals/Electric Guitar/Acoustic Guitar

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.

Juli Morgan

Lead Vocals/Backup Vocals/Electric Guitars

Juli Morgan 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 (recorded in Nashville.) 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 1,800 subscribers and 450,000 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. Juli earned her Bachelor’s degree in Guitar performance from Berklee College of Music in the fall of 2016. In addition to playing with The Experts she currently teaches guitar at Guitar Center in Braintree, MA and also performs regularly with the Jon Finn Group.

Steve Carro

Lead Vocals/Backup Vocals

Steve pretty much has been singing professionally since he exited his mother’s 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 area’s 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 every day.

Jim LaTorre

Electric Guitar/Acoustic Guitar

Jim spent over thirty years in the investment industry, twenty-six of which with Northern Cross. During that period, Jim co-managed one of the largest and best performing international equity mutual funds in the country. Retiring from finance in late 2018, Jim soon began a new career in oncology research by founding Lytica Therapeutics in Cambridge, MA. A lifetime musician, Jim is often seen practicing his guitar as much as possible. In his free time, he also enjoys serious hiking expeditions, particularly those in the Tetons of Wyoming. Jim has a BA in Economics from Fairfield University and an 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. Before founding Lytica, Jim was a long term supporter and Trustee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Jim decided he wanted to play and perform music at a level of quality equal to any professionally touring act. To do this, he teamed up with a talented group of musicians, working together for over a decade - on stage and in rehearsal - to hone their unique sound.

Jon Finn

Backup Vocals/Electric Guitar

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, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry (Aerosmith), Natalie Cole, Carly Simon, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Melissa Etheridge, Andy Grammer 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 released their 3rd new full-length CD “Bull in a China Shop” (SEP Music) in 2010, still 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.

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."

Rich Cesarini

Keyboards

Rich Cesarini has been a well-known piano/keyboard/accordion player and instructor 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, NH favorites Brickyard Blues and the popular New England Grateful Dead cover band Deadbeat. 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 and is the keyboard player for the Jon Finn Group. Most recently, Rich opened his own music school known as “Southeast School of Music” in Easton, MA.

Music

The master song list includes music from these artists:

• Steely Dan
• Kansas
• Toto
• Edgar Winter
• Joe Walsh
• Allman Brothers
• Bonnie Raitt
• Pink Floyd
• The Beatles
• America
• Santana
• Government Mule
• Badfinger
• Rick Derringer
• The Eagles
• Boston
• Led Zeppelin
• Grand Funk
• Eric Clapton
• Deep Purple
• Doobie Brothers
• Sugarloaf