Bill Peck was born April 1st, 1979 in Orlando, Florida. Bill began his interest in guitar early in life but didn't begin playing until he was fifteen. Jamming the popular songs of the day, Bill found a direction after viewing the "Live and Loud" video performance of Zakk Wylde with Ozzy Osbourne. Obsessed with mastering metal guitar, he meticulously practiced other great player's solos such as Van Halen, Rhoads, Vai, Malmsteen and others. He continued practicing and performing constantly and released his first recorded work at the age of 21. His solo album "Internal Flames", became available on December 9th 2000 and showcases his amazing technique and ability to integrate it into real songs. Not just complete vehicles for chops. Due to the publicity gained from the CD, Bill was contacted about joining the former Wright Entertainment Group rock band "Gotti 13". Bill worked as a hired gun lead guitar player from May 2001 through the end of 2001 ...
Joyce Cooling:
Guitarist,
Vocalist,
Songwriter:
A few short years ago, guitarist and songwriter Joyce Cooling took a good, hard look at her life. Glued to the TV like the rest of us, Cooling remembers the days after 9/11 and found her perspective on life jolted. "I asked myself," she recalls, "Is what Iím doing as a musician meaningful?" After lengthy, ardent talks with her long-time collaborator and partner Jay Wagner about a potential life without a career in music, Cooling proclaimed, "I don't know about you, but this girl's got to play."
Cooling has always wanted to make music.
Growing up in New Jersey and New York, she absorbed a wide variety of music and amassed a huge record collection. "My collection contains Ornette Coleman, João Bosco, and Bill Evans, but it also includes James Brown, Maurice Ravel, Jimi Hendrix, Abbey Lincoln and Aerosmith as well music from all over the world," she notes. "I like R&B. I like folk. I like heavy metal and headbanger stuff. I like punk. I like rap. I just like good music. There are no boundaries with me."
Coolingís penchant for the eclectic continued when she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1980s and began dabbling in keyboards and percussion. Music had long been the most passionate part of her life, but an actual career as a musician started taking shape only after she began hanging around an African drumming class taught by C.K. Ladzekpo, a renowned Ghanaian percussionist. Integrating the polyrhythmic sophistication of West African music with her passion for melody and harmony, Cooling focused her attention on playing, singing, and songwriting. "Everything crystallized when I heard Wes Montgomery's solo on If You Could See Me Now. From then on, it was as if guitar had chosen me."
Teaching herself to play guitar by ear, she developed a personal style of finger picking that has given her playing its unique sound and feel ...
The Lenny Breau Homepage. The late Lenny Breau was a true jazz guitar genius who ranks alongside Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery as one of a select few inspired innovators who set new standards of creative artistry in Jazz Guitar history. Lenny's musical influences were truly diverse. They ranged from Country fingerstyle master Chet Atkins, Jazz Guitarists Johnny Smith and Tal Farlow, Flamenco virtuoso Sabicas, Jazz pianist Bill Evans and sax titan John Coltrane. Drawing from these eclectic sources Lenny created a truly unique voice in the guitar world.
Lenny's unprecedented technical facility and depth of musical insight allowed him to play Bill Evans style chord voicings simultaneously with improvised single note lines. His country and classical right hand techniques allowed for great independence of parts and subtle tonal and dynamic shadings. Lenny possessed a singular blend of techniques and musical knowledge that often created the illusion of two and sometimes three musicians eminating from a single guitarist ...
The official site of guitar virtuoso, Toshi Iseda.
Born in Chicago Illinois, and after being mesmerized by his uncle Jeff Brown playing guitar, Toshi Iseda was inspired to pick up the guitar. A guitarist since the 7th grade, Toshi has become known as THE prominent up-and-coming guitarist in the Midwest. In the "beginning", he was inspired by listening to a lot of different kinds of music, but especially that of KISS, Aerosmith and Peter Frampton (The song "Do You Feel Like We Do?" had a profound affect on Toshi). He then was motivated to practice up to 2 hours a day when first learning how to play.
Toshi's first "serious" influences were guitarist such as Rock greats Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads, Adrian Vandenberg (when he was in the band Vandenberg), Uli Jon Roth, Jimi Hendrix, and Michael Schenker among others.
After reading an interview with then UFO guitarist Michael Schenker in an issue of Guitar Player Magazine where Schenker spoke of how he practiced as many as 4 hours a day when starting, Toshi decided it was time to up the stakes on his practice regime. Toshi then started practicing up to 5 hours a day in order to play like Mike! Toshi eventually worked his practice schedule up to 15 hours a day!!! This practice schedule also included Toshi's classical guitar studies which he had later taken up after hearing about Randy Rhoads' classical influence. Toshi's classical guitar influences include Christopher Parkening, Andreas Segovia, Liona Boyd, John Williams and Julian Bream. Later his Rock influences would include Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Paul Gilbert (circa Racer X), Jason Becker - basically the whole Shrapnel records collection -, George Lynch, Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai ...
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Pat Martino's Homepage.
When the anesthesia wore off, Pat Martino looked up hazily at his parents and his doctors. and tried to piece together any memory of his life.
One of the greatest guitarists in jazz. Martino had suffered a severe brain aneurysm and underwent surgery after being told that his condition could be terminal. After his operations he could remember almost nothing. He barely recognized his parents. and had no memory of his guitar or his career. He remembers feeling as if he had been "dropped cold, empty, neutral, cleansed...naked."
In the following months. Martino made a remarkable recovery. Through intensive study of his own historic recordings, and with the help of computer technology, Pat managed to reverse his memory loss and return to form on his instrument. His past recordings eventually became "an old friend, a spiritual experience which remained beautiful and honest." This recovery fits in perfectly with Pat's illustrious personal history. Since playing his first notes while still in his pre-teenage years, Martino has been recognized as one of the most exciting and virtuosic guitarists in jazz. With a distinctive, fat sound and gut-wrenching performances, he represents the best not just in jazz, but in music. He embodies thoughtful energy and soul ...
guitarist Steve Erquiaga,jazz classical/crossover recording artist.
A San Francisco Bay Area native, guitarist/composer Steve Erquiaga's career has touched many areas of the music world. He has recorded and toured with such varied artists as Bobby McFerrin, Joe Henderson, Les McCann, John Scofield, David Byrne, The Turtle Island String Quartet, Paulo Bellinati, Jim Nichols, Andy Narell, and Paul McCandless. His group was the featured group at the Music Meeting Jazz Festival in Den Bosch Holland, May 1993. With the Andy Narell group Steve recorded seven albums and toured extensively, performing at such venues as the Montreaux Jazz Festival, The Berlin Jazz Festival and the North Sea Jazz Festival.
Steve's recently released CD "Cafe Paradiso" (IMAGINARY ROAD RECORDS) was on the Billboard Classical/Crossover chart for 11 weeks, reaching #10.
"Erkiology", released in 1992, features Peter Erskine, Jimmy Johnson, Bob Sheppard and other noted players. It reached #3 on the jazz airplay charts.
He appears many of the Windham Hill compilation albums such as "Winter Solstice III, IV and V", "The Impressionists", "The Romantics", and "The Bach Variations ...