Tim Eyermann, 60; Headed Up D.C.-Based Jazz Fusion Band

Albert Timothy Eyermann was born and grew up in Pittsburgh and began to play the saxophone when he was 10. He began working professionally in high school and formed a singing group, the El Reys, which made a recording and was popular with Pittsburgh teens. He was also an outstanding high school baseball player.

After graduating from Pittsburgh's Duquesne University, Mr. Eyermann worked with an Air Force band in Colorado Springs before coming to Washington with the Airmen of Note. He later studied at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore.

In his six years with the Airmen, including a second tour of duty in the early 1980s, Mr. Eyermann traveled the world. One of the highlights of his career came during a 1983 Airmen concert at DAR Constitution Hall, where he performed solos with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and another of his musical idols, saxophonist and flutist James Moody.

Before performing, he had a habit of eating one -- and only one -- M&M.

When not onstage, Mr. Eyermann kept busy with studio work, writing and teaching. He composed many of the works he performed with East Coast Offering and wrote and recorded dozens of advertising jingles. He performed in show bands at the Kennedy Center, presidential inaugurations and a birthday party for Donald Trump. He had spent the past five years in Florida and, at the time of his death, was writing a music exercise book.

"He was totally committed," said Nark, who worked with Mr. Eyermann in the Airmen of Note. "He lived music 24 hours a day."

His marriage to Marie Eyermann ended in divorce.

Survivors include a daughter, Angela Rivers of Fairfax County; and two sisters, Lynn Iezzi and Mary Beth Eyermann, both of Munhall, Pa.