Andreas Guitar Universe

Guitar virtuoso Andreas Oberg is starting an on-line guitar school. This is guaranteed to reduce the number of guitarists in the world, but to increase the number of girls and women learning jazz guitar.

Click the image to go to the site.

"Progressive Jazz Rock Fusion with the relentless pursuit to De-Fragment Rhythm & Harmony"

Huh?

A full 51 minute lesson by Robert Conti - The More I See You

This is the first time I've seen several full lessons by Conti on the web. In the lesson below -- The More I Love You -- it's funny that Conti can't play the full tune because he didn't get an OK from the copyright owner. I would think that a performance of the full tune would be covered by fair use, but I guess he wants to be conservative. Several other full-length lessons are available from the page that hosts the video linked below.

The More I See You Free Jazz Guitar Lesson Robert Conti | Viral | SPIKE.com

Martino Unstrung

This movie about Pat Martino's brain disease and recovery has been a long time in the works. Apparently, it was released in late October. This is an extraordinary story that most jazz guitarists are familiar with. I hope the movie is a huge success, and exposes a lot of people to what seems to have been a miracle of brain science.

A link to the trailer on youtube is embedded below. The film has a website here. And, here is a link to an interview with Pat Martino on allaboutjazz.com on the subject of the movie. Unlike many musicians, who tend to be private and reclusive, Pat Martino puts himself right out there.

I'm unsure how this movie will be distributed. The martinostrung.com website mentions a couple of movie festivals (Barcelona and Seattle), but says nothing about broader distribution that I can see.

A Short Interview With Pat Martino

Matt Savage

There was an article about pianist Matt Savage in the Wall Street Journal yesterday (declared "a new Mozart" by Dave Brubeck). Here is a stream of his appearance on All Things Considered. Turns out he's a New Hampshire boy.

Eddie Lang on Secondlinesocial.com

Great post on Eddie Lang on Secondlinesocial.com:

Eddie Lang, to many, was considered the first virtuoso guitarist. His unique style incorporated all the finer elements of Jazz, Blues, and contemporary European musics, which were all just forming within the birth of the commercial music industry. Lang was born Salvatore Massaro, son to an Italian instrument maker who immigrated to Philadelphia. He studied the violin for 11 years before leaving it to play banjo, then guitar. He was 16 when he started to play professionally, where he joined the already formed Mound City Blue Blowers. Shortly thereafter became an increasing industry interest in his unique guitar work, which placed him in many recording sessions with the "who's who" of early jazz. As was/is common, Jazz thrived on the spontaneity and distinctness of the moment. Many sessions were unique, in that the line-ups would regularly change. Although he got around, Lang regularly worked with a violinist and childhood friend, Joe Venuti. .... [continue reading]

SRV Guitar Lesson

Jerry Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer

Pat Metheny, Cinema Paradiso