GUITARS GALORE!
by Tim Cross
What is it about
Kansas City and guitar players? From the tap roots of Eddie Durham,
Efferage Ware, Jim "Big Daddy" Walker, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Floyd
Smith, Leonard "Lucky" Enois, and Sonny Kenner, to Norman Brown, Steve
Cardenas and Pat Metheny, the musical fertility of this city has produced
an abundant yield of guitarists. Is it something in the water? Some
mixture of blues and swing in the topsoil? Whatever the reason, it's a
crop that shows no sign of withering on the vine any time soon.
Here are some current pickings from the garden.
BRIAN BAGGETT
Though his name may be new to some, Brian Baggett's recent
collaborations with bassist Bill McKemy, and his previous work with the
Embius Trio, have people checking him out.
Originally from Topeka, Baggett gained his first experience in an
improvisational rock band called Einstein Electric, which he formed while
still in high school. As his interest in jazz grew, a natural progression
from the music with which he was involved, he enrolled in Washburn
University, played in the top jazz combo, and studied theory and
improvisation with Chuck Tumlinson.
Before long, Baggett was practicing eight hours a day, seeking out veteran
players like Rod Fleeman and Danny Embrey for lessons, and trying to find
his voice, or "the soup," as he calls it.
"How many ingredients do you have in your soup? Just one? Or is it a dash
of Scofield, a pinch of Martino, a sprinkling of Metheny, a taste of Wayne
Shorter, and a hint of African music?"
His prime ingredient right now is Charlie Parker.
"I want to play saxophone on guitar. Alto sax is my favorite instrument."
He also admires Pat Martino, "for his touch and picking technique," and
Jim Hall. "When you listen to Jim, it's like time slows down. It has
taught me to be more thoughtful."
A dedicated individual who is still learning, Baggett approaches his
playing with a deep sense of spirituality. As he puts it, "I am blessed to
be musician."
Brian Baggett can be heard on Bill McKemy's current CD, Duende.
JAKE BLANTON
He's only 24, but Jake Blanton is making his mark.
Experimenting with keyboards, cello, bassoon, and bass from the age of
ten, Jake discovered a love for the guitar, and jazz, in high school as a
student at Paseo Academy. He subsequently played in the school jazz
ensemble for four years, attended two semesters of jazz workshops at UMKC,
and wrote a composition which was performed by the Kansas City Symphony.
Blanton's early models were Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny and
Charlie Christian, "whose strong time feel was very influential." When
Blanton was 16, he studied with Rod Fleeman; the lessons were given as a
birthday present.
"My parents told me we were going for a drive," Jake recalls. "We ended up
going to Rod's house!"
At 17, and already a promising player, Blanton began subbing with
Interstring at Crown Center's Milano. "I'm indebted to Bob Bowman," Jake
now says, "for letting me play gigs while I was still cutting my teeth."
Since that time, Jake has worked with the Westport Art Ensemble, Angela
Hagenbach, Upper Level Disturbance, Josh Sklar, and Sons of Brazil. In
January, he left Kansas City to continue his career in New York.
Currently, Blanton's interest is exploring "the freeness and openness" of
the guitar trio. "I love the sound and texture... the linear thing that's
happening." It's also an excellent vehicle for his horn-like phrasing and
intuitive sense of time, something admired by many musicians who work with
him.
"Playing with Jake is like bouncing off a trampoline," says drummer Matt
Kane. "It's so easy."
Ervin Brown
|
ERVIN BROWN
Ervin Brown is a skilled multi-instrumentalist who is known for both his
saxophone and guitar contributions to the local music scene. Starting out
on alto sax in junior high, he picked up the guitar when he was given one
by his father, Raymond Ice, who played with Jay McShann and Lionel
Hampton.
Although he had extensive training on the sax (Ahmad Alaadeen was one of
his early teachers), Brown was largely self-taught on the guitar. He
learned by listening to recordings of Wes Montgomery, and also Grant
Green, who impressed the aspiring guitarist with "the amazing simplicity"
of his approach.
"Grant could take single notes and control a whole group," Brown comments.
Another important part of Brown's development happened around age 24, when
he got to hang out with George Benson for a week. "It was an educational
and inspirational experience that changed the way I played."
At 26, Brown moved to California to pursue a career as a songwriter. On
the west coast, he worked with Lou Rawls, LTD, Jeffrey Osborne, Ray
Parker, Nathan East, and he backed up Barry White for nine years. White
recorded several of Ervin's songs.
Returning home to care for his mother, Brown settled in, started a family,
and continued his career in Kansas City. Since then, he has worked with
Gerald Dunn, Everette Freeman, Luqman Hamza, Chris Clarke, and many
others. He has also recorded with Everette DeVan and Lisa Henry, leads his
own quartet, and is currently playing duo at Ophelia's in Independence
with bassist James Ward.
TOM DEMASTERS
A Kansas City, Kansas native, Tom DeMasters took up guitar at age ten,
began playing jazz at sixteen under the tutelage of Ray Naylor, and
graduated from Wichita State University, where he was a student of Jerry
Hahn.
He credits Hahn with opening him up to "different chord voicings, walking
bass lines, and new ways of phrasing." But more important was "the
opportunity to see my teacher play live in local clubs."
In 1980, DeMasters left Wichita for Los Angeles. He enrolled at USC and
studied with Duke Miller, creator of the Zone Method for guitar and also
Lee Ritenour's former teacher. After spending a year at USC, DeMasters
taught at East L.A. Community College and took guitar lessons from Steve
Vai, who was in Frank Zappa's band at the time.
In 1983, Tom got married and came back home to Kansas City. One of his
first regular gigs was with Diane "Mama" Ray and Rich VanSant. Since that
time, he has worked steadily, playing a mix of blues and jazz with Mo
Paul, "Duck" Warner, Rob Whitsitt, Tim Whitmer, Pat Morrissey, and Bill
Dye.
Of his personal style, DeMasters says, "I play jazz with a blues voice."
His guitarists of choice are Robben Ford, Mike Stern, Wes Montgomery,
Jerry Hahn, and Pat Martino. He has recorded with the late Pat Morrissey,
Bradley Allen, and the Big Woody Blues Band, and has produced his own CD,
On The Bright Side. He plays Monday nights at the Grand Street Cafe with
Bradley Allen.
Danny Embrey
|
DANNY EMBREY
Currently touring with Karrin Allyson, with whom he has performed since
1990, Danny Embrey is one of the most in-demand musicians in the region.
His résumé speaks volumes about the strength of his reputation.
Early highlights of Embrey's career include working with Sergio Mendes
from 1980 to 1987, and Clare Fischer's Latin Band from 1982 to 1985.
"Sergio Mendes was a group I loved in high school," Danny says. "(It was)
a mix of Brazilian, pop and jazz. I toured with them for seven years, and
it was the first time I'd traveled on that level, all over the world in
huge venues. The group had two guitars; the great Oscar Castro-Neves was
on nylon string guitar. I learned a great deal from him.
"Clare Fischer's group was a Salsa band. I'd never played that music
before as it doesn't usually include guitar. I played unison lines with
(saxophonist) Gary Foster and soloed. No comping; the piano did that. It
was a great band: Poncho Sanchez, Alex Acuna, Walfredo Reyes. I had a ball
and learned how to groove with that kind of music."
Growing up in Kansas City, Embrey never took guitar lessons, but studied
theory with John Elliott for three years. His first "real jazz gig" was
with Greg Meise.
"I learned hundreds of tunes on the bandstand. That was often the way you
learned back then. It's not the same today."
When he's in town, Danny performs with Sons Of Brazil, Interstring, and as
a sideman for the Kansas City Jazz Workshop.
JAY EUDALEY
For Jay EuDaley, "jazz is an attitude... a way of playing and thinking,
unrestricted by rules and repertoire."
His mind and ears were opened to this attitude as a teenager by listening
to George Benson, then Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, Joe Pass, and Jim
Hall. Along the way, he soaked in the jazz idiom, not transcribing solos
or copying licks, but listening intently. "I was looking for paradigms,
patterns... how were they thinking?"
Although he's been a musician all his life -- Jay was playing Hawaiian
style guitar on a ukulele by the age of two or three -- it wasn't until
his twenties that he decided to become a professional musician. After "an
early mid-life crisis," he dropped out of college, where he was a
philosophy major, and became serious about studying guitar.
This decision led to enrollment at the UMKC Conservatory of Music,
classical guitar studies with Doug Neidt, and jazz guitar lessons with
Danny Embrey. "Danny was somebody who played the way I wanted to play,"
Jay says.
Embrey soon moved to Los Angeles, but he referred EuDaley to the legendary
John Elliott, with whom he studied for seven years while working as a full
time musician and spending time on the road. Jay is now a successful
teacher himself, with over sixty students a week filing through his studio
at Guitar Source.
Since 1985 EuDaley has been the house guitarist for the Saturday afternoon
jams at Harling's Upstairs with Rich VanSant and Diane "Mama" Ray. His
current CD is Channeling Harold.
Rod Fleeman
|
ROD FLEEMAN
Rod Fleeman is a versatile guitarist whose flexibility, sensitivity and
ability to fit into diverse situations make him a highly sought after
sideman. "Stan Kessler once called me a musical chameleon," he recalls.
Rod grew up in Kansas City, played in the Southwest High School jazz
ensemble under the mentorship of George Alter, and spent two years as a
music major at the University of Utah.
Returning to Kansas City, he studied theory with John Elliott, and gigged
nightly with Hammond B-3 player Greg Meise, getting an intense education
from both. Of those days, Rod says, "I was weaned on organ trio."
After several years, Fleeman left the Greg Meise Trio to go to the
University of Miami, referring Danny Embrey for the Meise gig in the
process. In Miami, Rod studied with the free-spirited Joe Diorio, who,
along with Pat Martino, was a source of inspiration. "I think you find
something similar to your own voice and gravitate to that sound. It's like
falling in love."
Returning to KC, Fleeman worked with cornetist Gary Sivils, the fusion
band Dry Jack, and began his long career as a stellar sideman. Since that
time he has worked with everyone from Karrin Allyson and Interstring, to
Joe Williams and Ella Fitzgerald.
As far as his being a chameleon, for Rod it's really about creativity,
generosity and making everybody sound good.
"Jazz is like painting a picture, but with several people painting at
once. You have to adapt, and support other people's ideas. It's a group
painting."
Charles Gatschet
|
CHARLES GATSCHET
A messenger of swing, Charles Gatschet was baptized and raised in the
Kansas City tradition, having worked in his formative years with older
musicians like Step-Buddy Anderson, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Baby
Lovett, Richard Ross and Jimmy Witherspoon.
He is also a talented composer, with an affinity for bebop, Brazilian,
Indian, and classical music.
As heard on his CD, Reflections, or at any of his gigs around town,
Gatschet's sound is warm, graceful, and in-the-pocket. He's got chops, but
virtuosity really isn't what he's about. Charles is more interested in
communication and meaning, using the tools of jazz improvisation to
interpret tunes and standard songs in a personal way, while leaving their
essence intact.
"I'm trying to make the song sound more like itself," he says. "I
improvise with the melody in mind."
Understandably, Gatschet likes to work with other musicians who share this
approach.
"I want to hear a person's voice, and conviction," he adds.
Gatschet has studied with Rich Andrews, theory and arranging with John
Elliott, classical guitar with Doug Neidt, and has gained valuable
on-the-job experience playing swing, blues, and funk in organ trios. His
favorite living guitarists are Jim Hall and the Canadian Ed Bickert, and
he points to Freddie Green and Charlie Christian as his foundational
influences. "They are the cornerstones on which all subsequent jazz
guitarists have built."
Ever positive, Gatschet doesn't look backwards.
"I don't agree with those who say the music has lost its spirit and has no
soul anymore. There's the opportunity to play great music... right now!"
WAYNE GOINS
Wayne Goins was born listening to music. He grew up in Chicago surrounded
by the sound of the blues. His father was a blues harmonica player, and
his uncle led a blues band, which Goins joined at the age of eleven.
"I got a toy guitar every year for Christmas," he says. "And by the time I
got a real guitar, I think I already knew how to play it."
Blessed with "a natural ear for the guitar," Goins was mostly self-taught.
"My teachers were the records I listened to."
Wayne got into jazz his senior year of high school, and started going
across town after classes for jazz ensemble rehearsals at another school.
After graduation, he attended the University of Arkansas on a music
scholarship and received bachelor's and master's degrees in music
education from the University of Tennessee. After teaching in Chicago and
Boston, he moved to Atlanta, where he taught at three colleges, and
recorded and toured as a guitarist for Ichabod Records. In 1995, he
obtained his Ph.D. from Florida State University.
Currently the Director of Jazz Studies at Kansas State University in
Manhattan, Dr. Goins performs locally at the Blue Room, The Club at Plaza
III, and with Will Matthews, Gerald Dunn, Charles Williams, Steve Rigazzi,
and the Duck Warner Project.
An accomplished educator and musician, Wayne has never lost touch with his
Chicago roots, or his true voice.
"Underneath all the sophistication of jazz, you've got to learn the blues
first. It's the thread that runs through it all."
Brian Harman
|
BRIAN HARMAN
Brian Harman has been playing guitar since the age of thirteen and has
logged a lot of miles since then. But he still remembers the day he went
to "the local hardware store in Mount Vernon, Iowa and bought a record by
Wes Montgomery."
It wasn't long after that that Harman headed down Highway 1 to the
University of Iowa School of Music. After graduation in 1974, he taught
guitar at Coe, Cornell, and Kirkwood Colleges, performed with Sonny
Rollins and Frank Rosolino, and spent time in New York City studying with
Pat Martino and Chuck Wayne.
In 1979, Brian's travels led to the University of Miami, where he got his
master's degree, and Nova Scotia, where he taught at St. Francis Xavier
University. After a productive three years -- which included performances
with Miroslav Vitous, Monty Alexander, and Rob McConnell -- Harman moved
to Kansas City to pursue a career as a freelance guitarist.
Since 1984, Brian has become a greatly respected sideman, collaborating
with many of the city's best jazz musicians. Recordings include The Real
Thing with organist Everette DeVan and saxophonist Bill Caldwell, and
Yesterdays and Today with the Jim Widner Big Band.
Harman taught at the UMKC Conservatory of Music from 1988 to 1996, and
played in the faculty jazz ensemble, performing with Phil Woods, Gary
Foster, Bobby Watson, Lew Soloff, Bobby Shew, Bob Brookmeyer, Jay McShann,
and Louie Bellson. He currently teaches guitar at Kansas City Kansas
Community College, and can be heard on Monday nights at Jilly's on
Broadway with Everette DeVan.
Will Matthews
|
WILL MATTHEWS
Will Matthews, guitarist for the Count Basie Orchestra, doesn't get back
home nearly enough these days. A recent appearance at Jazz/A Louisiana
Kitchen with the Midtown Quartet afforded him the rare opportunity to
stretch out before a hometown crowd.
In performance, Will's warmth of personality and craftsmanship come
through immediately. His fingers seem to move effortlessly over the
fretboard of his beautiful D'Angelico guitar, as he spins out lines full
of spirit and elegance along with that indefinable bounce intrinsic to
Kansas City swing.
A Kansas City native, Matthews started playing guitar at age thirteen. By
fifteen, his musical interests, initiated in R&B, funk, and soul, expanded
to include the jazz guitar sounds of Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Phil
Upchurch, and George Benson. Self-taught, Will immersed himself in
recordings and honed his skills on the bandstand with the likes of Claude
"Fiddler" Williams, Luqman Hamza, Jay McShann, Bishop Norman Williams, and
Dr. Ronnell Bright.
In 1996, Matthews joined the Count Basie Orchestra. Filling the chair of
icon Freddie Green "has been an honor," Matthews says, and working and
associating with seasoned masters like Grover Mitchell, Butch Miles, and
Bill Hughes (who has been in the band since 1954) "has been a great
learning experience."
"It's like going to school," Will says. "I never went to college. This is
my education. When they hear something in your playing that's not right,
they let you know right away!"
With the holidays over, the road beckons. Will Matthews is back out there,
spreading the gospel of Kansas City swing.
MONTE MUZA
Monte Muza describes himself as "the elder statesman of the current
bunch," bridging the gap between players like Carl Romeines, Ray Harris,
Don Winsell, Sonny Kenner and Calvin Keyes, and younger musicians like Pat
Metheny and Steve Cardenas.
"When I started playing on the scene, most of the guys that came before me
were dead or had moved away," Muza recalls.
As a teenager, Monte played with bluesman Albert Collins, ("an experience
that gave me strong roots; without blues, there is no jazz"), and he
studied with Don Winsell and John Elliott while acquiring his formidable
chops as a organ trio journeyman in such legendary black-owned clubs as
Roy's Gold Lounge, O.G.'s, and the Solar Lounge.
"There used to be clubs all over downtown," Muza says. "Now they're just
vacant lots."
Influenced by Wes Montgomery ("my favorite guitar player on the planet...
by light years"), Monte Muza has also spent a lot of time transcribing
music from records and listening to pianists.
"I learned a lot from studying the music of McCoy Tyner and Herbie
Hancock, which other guitar players weren't doing at the time," he
recalls. "Guitar is my voice now, and it's the instrument I came up
playing. But if I had it to do all over again, I'd play piano."
Never short on words, Muza sums up his personal philosophy this way:
"The number one important thing to me is creating melodies. I'm not trying
to break new ground, or find new horizons. I'm trying to be soulful,
pretty, melodic, and emotional."
Tom Pender
|
TOM PENDER
Tom Pender has performed with numerous local artists, has recorded with
drummer Shelly Manne, and plays guitar for the Kansas City Chiefs T.D.
Pack Band and Tom Penderblast Red-e-Mix Trio.
Quiet and thoughtful, Tom is passionate about the purpose and meaning of
music. "Unless you connect it your life, and your life becomes your music,
it's just a technical exercise," he says.
Pender's life has been his music for a long time. From his earliest
experience in blues, R&B, and funk bands, to local freelance work, solo
jazz-classical guitar concerts, and studies with John Elliott and
classical guitarist Doug Neidt, Tom has striven to speak "the language of
music" with sincerity and a healthy dose of understated humor.
More focused on substance then style or genre, Pender sees jazz and the
nature of improvisation as an evolving continuum, a process.
"Jazz is an ever-changing reflection of society, and man's view of himself
and God."
Pender found these beliefs reinforced when he had the opportunity to study
with the great Joe Diorio.
"Joe worked on the spiritual and mental aspects of playing as much as the
technical," Tom remembers.
Diorio's influence seems to surface in Pender's precise picking and
rippling intervallic lines, but it's clear that, for him, technique and
theory are only a jumping-off point -- tools to express meaning and
articulate a message.
" What's most important is uplifting self-expression, fluency in the
musical language, and a grounding in the blues. It's essential to
understand and play the blues."
STEVE SWANSON
Steve Swanson is a busy man with a diversified background. His
accomplishments include a master's degree in bass trombone from UMKC,
teaching stints at Jamey Aebersold jazz camps, twenty-plus years as a pit
orchestra guitarist at Starlight Theater, sideman work for blues harmonica
player Little Hatch, bluegrass bands, avant-garde classical collaborations
with the New Ear Ensemble, ten years of duos with reedman Ron Hathorne at
the American Restaurant, and a drummerless trio with Claude "Fiddler"
Williams and Steve Cardenas. For the past four years, he has taught music
full time at Academie Lafayette, a French language immersion Charter
School.
Swanson stays so busy with his many pursuits and commitments, he's not
always as visible in jazz venues as he would like to be. "I'm still alive
and playing!" he reports.
Over the past three years, Swanson has held down a regular Friday night
gig with saxophonist Ben Graham at the Free State Brewery in Lawrence,
which he finds "enjoyable and challenging due to the difficult tunes that
Graham calls." When time allows, Steve devotes time to arranging and
composition, and involves himself in projects such as jazz masses at
Emmanuel Lutheran Church.
Swanson grew up in Kansas City, started guitar at age 10, learned to sight
read from "Mel Bay's Big Note Book," and was influenced by Kenny Burrell
and Wes Montgomery.
When asked to summarize his aspirations, he puts it simply: "I want to
tell a story. And put a lot of soul in it."
ROB WHITSITT
An intense and fiery player who can cover everything from funk and blues
to bebop and classical, Rob Whitsitt started working professionally at the
age of 16. His first road gig was with organist Jack McDuff (on a referral
from Omaha guitarist Billy Rogers), and later he spent four years working
with the great pianist George Shearing in a trio that included Andy
Simkins on bass and Rusty Jones on drums.
Keeping company with giants like McDuff and Shearing was quite an
education for a young musician, and Rob says that his playing had
noticeably changed by the time he returned home to Kansas City.
"From Jack I learned how to make the music feel good. And with George I
learned how sophisticated music could be."
Listening to Whitsitt play provides ample evidence that he took the
lessons from both masters to heart.
A student of Don Winsell, and later John Elliott, Rob lists Pat Martino
and Wes Montgomery as his primary jazz guitar influences, but he has
always stayed open to all styles of music.
"I like Jimi Hendrix, Allan Holdsworth, and Robben Ford as much as I like
Jim Hall and Heitor Villa-Lobos."
This open-mindedness and versatility keep Whitsitt well rounded as a
person and musician, and it allows him to pursue a variety of work
opportunities. Rob can be heard around town with his own trio, Ida
McBeth's group, and the Boulevard Big Band
.* * * Thanks to everyone who took time out of their busy schedules or
gave up break time at their gigs to talk with me. And thanks to Chuck
Haddix at the Marr Sound Archives for historical background.* * *
Tim Cross is a professional guitarist, lives in Lawrence, and is a
frequent JAM contributor.
RETURN TO
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2003 MAIN INDEX
© Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2003. All rights reserved.
