 For 25 years, he worked as a freelance trombonist in New York City.In recent years, he toured and recorded with the rock group Steely Dan, is a founding member of the Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble, and is on faculty as Distinguished Professor of Jazz Trombone at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Born in Camden, New Jersey and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania, Pugh began studying piano at age five and trombone at age ten.