Art Tripp

Arthur Dyer Tripp III (born September 10, 1944) aka Ed Marimba, Ted Cactus, Artie "With the Green Mustache" Tripp, is a former musician best known for his work as a percussionist with Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band. He is currently a chiropractor in Mississippi.

Early career

Arthur Dyer Tripp III was born September 10, 1944, in Athens, Ohio. He grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He started playing drums in fourth grade with school bands, then later while at high school at weddings, fraternity parties and dances. Tripp became a student of Stanley Leonard, a timpanist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with whom he learned to play other percussion instruments, including the xylophone, tympani, marimba, and dozens of others.

In 1962, Tripp enrolled at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music to study percussion. His private teacher at the conservatory, Ed Weubold, was a percussionist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO). Tripp became a regular member of the CSO, performing with artists such as Igor Stravinsky, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, Jose Iturbi, Loren Hollender and Arthur Fiedler. In 1966, the US State Department sent the orchestra on a 10-week world tour, which provided additional experience for the young musician. During this time, Tripp also played two seasons as timpanist with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a season with both the Cincinnati Summer Opera and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. He was selected by avant garde composer John Cage to work with him in performances and workshops when Cage became composer-in-residence at the Conservatory of Music.