Carl Verheyen is a member of that elite (and shrinking) group of musicians known as “session guitarists.” Super-qualified pickers, they’re the hired guns brought in for the most demanding and important recording dates. They command triple-scale fees, but work in a pressure cooker where time is money, where skillsets call for expertise in blues, jazz, [...]
There are guitars, there are great guitars, there are great historic guitars and there are great historic guitars bearing deep provenance. And then there are guitars of such immense mystique, provenance, and cultural significance they are transcendent, shattering ceilings set by previous standards. Two such instruments were crafted by Gibson at the height of its [...]
With his newest creation, luthier Roger Sadowsky endows his entrant into the world of semi-hollow guitars with capabilities to cover the demands of blues, rock, and fusion. And while Sadowsky himself describes the Semi-Hollow Model simply as “a jazz guitar that can be played louder,” there’s way more under the hood. The Sadowsky S-H is [...]
Photo: Rick Gould. He’s a chops monster – the epitome of taste and understatement. An international pop star and a hard-rocking muso. A gifted songwriter and arranger, in a career spanning more than 30 years he has garnered acclaim as a Grammy-winning craftsman, prestigious record producer, and A-list session player. Just one of those accomplishments [...]
Photo: Rick Gould. Guitarist/ producer/ entrepreneur Howard Leese has come a long way since his early days with Heart in the 1970s. He was onboard when the band’s first hit single, “Barracuda,” swam up the charts, and was an integral member as they earned platinum record awards and sold-out concerts worldwide. And he was there [...]
(LEFT TO RIGHT) The ’59 Gibson Flying V made famous by Albert King. “Lucy,” the guitar built by Dan Erlwine in the early 1970s and used extensively by King. The mid-’60s Gibson Flying V King played extensively after his ’59 V was lost. Photos by Rick Gould. In a quiet, wooded canyon blissfully removed from [...]
If Mosaic’s compilations haven’t yet appeared on your radar screen, let me enlighten you. Mosaic issues stunningly beautiful and often sprawling tributes to legendary jazz performers like Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Hank Mobley, J.J. Johnson and, more to the point, important guitarists like Johnny Smith, Joe Pass, Django Reinhardt and Eddie Lang. Their newest offering [...]
He is a living legend, a national treasure, and an inspiration to musicians and music lovers of all stripes. Pat Martino’s exemplary career spans four decades, and his personal tale of trial and tribulation is one of the most powerful and miraculous success stories in music history. From his formative years as a sideman (or [...]
If Mosaic’s compilations haven’t yet appeared on your radar screen, let me enlighten you. Mosaic issues stunningly beautiful and often sprawling tributes to legendary jazz performers like Charlie Parker, Sonny Stitt, Hank Mobley, J.J. Johnson and, more to the point, important guitarists like Johnny Smith, Joe Pass, Django Reinhardt and Eddie Lang. Their newest offering [...]
Webster’s Dictionary defines genius as “…a person gifted with extraordinary powers of intellect, imagination or invention.” The definition could as easily be applied to describe Howard Roberts – virtuoso guitarist, innovative educator, and indefatigable inventor. Roberts was a guitarist’s guitarist, many things to many people, and enjoyed three highly distinguished and influential careers. He was [...]
