 After graduating from high school, John Allred moved to southern California and started his professional music career with the Jazz Minors, a six-piece Dixieland group at Disneyland in Anaheim.During this time, he became active in the Los Angeles music scene, and in 1987 he accepted an invitation to join Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd.He moved to Orlando, Florida, playing both jazz and studio gigs.