Dom Minasi's Guitar Hang
This month's guitar hang features not four, but six great players spanning France, The East and West Coast of the USA. Let me introduce you to, Doug Munro, Larry Koonse, Richard Bonnet, Sid Jacobs, Dan Adler and Sylvain Courtney.
Doug Monroe
Doug Munro is a multiple Grammy-nominated New York-based jazz guitarist. Since 1986 he has released 20 albums as a leader and has appeared on over 100 recordings as a sideman, producer, and arranger, working with artists like Dr. John, Michael Brecker, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. He has over 75 published compositions and over 300 recorded arrangements to his credit.
In the recording field, Doug has received two Grammy nominations and two NAIRD awards.
His 2011 release, A Very Gypsy Christmas was a top 5 pick by the Wall Street Journal. Amazon.com picked Boogaloo to Beck, which he arranged, co-produced, and on which he played, as a Top Ten Jazz CD of 2003. Doug also did orchestration on the Oscar-winning documentary film When We Were Kings. His last CD released in 2017, The Harry Warren Songbook, received rave reviews and still enjoys strong airplay. His 2022 release “Putt Lake Toodleloo” is already climbing the charts and receiving rave reviews.
Doug has written four books on jazz improvisation for Warner Brothers Publications and Alfred Music Publications, including one entitled, From Swing to Bebop, which won the Music and Sound Retailers instructional book of the year award in 2000. His last print only book, The Total Latin Guitarist (Alfred Publishing) was released in 2010.
Doug now writes exclusively for online publications and instructional websites. He contributes guitar instruction articles for Premier Guitar magazine and is a teaching/artist contributor for TrueFire.com where he has three online instructional courses and his own dedicated subscriber channel called Doug Munro’s Guitar Garage.
Munro created and directed the Jazz Studies Program at The Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in 1993 and is now Professor Emeritus (retired). He has been a teaching artist at the Litchfield Jazz Camp since 2009.
To learn more about Doug, visit his website : https://dougmunro.com/
DM: How long are you playing?
Doug M: I’ve been playing guitar for over 50 years (yikes!). I learned how to play by picking stuff off of records which was common back them. I also learned a lot from the older kids who played. I would watch them play and try to copy what they did. I learned how to read music from the great Arnie Berle. I took a couple lessons with some great players, Jack Wilson, Steve Khan and pianist Richie Bierach. I also was lucky to have an amazing High School music teacher, Sandy Seigelstein, who played French horn on the ”Birth Of The Cool” recordings. He taught me everything I know about music theory. I did eventual go back and get my undergrad and masters degrees but I was older and pretty much had it together already.
DM: Why Jazz?
Doug M: I was always an improvisor. Before I could play an instrument I used to sing a harmonized line to the songs I would hear. I would also make up my own lyrics. As I got older and played in bands I would get grief for not playing the songs the same way each time. So, in jazz I found an outlet for my need to improvise. At first I had no idea what I was doing but over time and a lot of practice I started to get the hang of it. I still feel I’m not that good at it but I love to play and improvise. It actually makes me feel good, and I try to share that joy with others.
DM: Who are your major influences?
Doug M: One man, so many! There are these groups of influencer's that I love. First I’ll start with the early swing/jazz players. I grew up in my grandparents house so I was used to hearing swing. They had a nice collection of 78’s that I listened to. So Lois Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Duke Ellington would be some major swing influences. When I got a little older I got into pop music especially R&B and what would later be called funk music. Through this I started listening to Weather Report. Jaco Pastorious and Wayne Shorter were in that band and I dug back inro Wayne and found Miles Davis and through Miles I found Wynton Kelley and through Him Wes Montgomery and then Grant Green. Through Wes and Grant I found Pat Martino and it just goes on and on. Bireli Lagrene Adrian Moignard are some of my new Gypsy favs. Cory Wong is cool and I’m interested in this band called Polyphia. I also left out all the flat top pickers I love from Doc Watson to Billy strings, and my perennial fav, Jeff Beck.
I could probably go on all day!
DM: How do you feel about the use of electronics in Jazz?
Doug M: That doesn’t bother me in the least. Freddie Green was dying to plug in and apparently the other cats in the Basie band wouldn’t let him lol! Jazz is folk music. It’s a reflection or portrait of what is going on. How can a jazz artist not be affected by the musical world we find ourselves in. I personally don’t mind if its completely unamplified acoustic or totally electronica. If it swings/grooves I’m down.
DM: Where do you think Jazz is headed?
Doug M: Well, I’m pretty old so I’m probably not the best person to ask ha! However, I will say this. I have seen jazz go from acoustic to electric. I’ve seen outside influences such as Brazilian and Afro-Cuban add some great flavor to the music. I’ve rocked and funked to the music. It appears to me that jazz will always take what the world gives it, digest it and make it swing!
Larry Koonse
Richard Bonnet Guitarist, composer, improviser, and educator Richard Bonnet was born in 1973; He lives and teaches in the French Alps. He has worked with a variety of musicians, such as Hasse Poulsen, Stéphane Payen, Antonin Tri Hoang, Dominique Pifarély, Régis Huby, Guillaume Roy, Edward Perraud, Dom Minasi, and created several projects (as a composer) such as a Quartet with Tony Malaby (sax), Tom Rainey (batt) and Antonin Rayon (Hammond organ) (Warrior – Marge 50), a Duo with Tony Malaby (Haptein – hôte Marge 04). He just came back from a tour around Europe where he performed with Tony Malaby (sax) and Sylvain Darrifourcq (drummer), and they also invited Louis Sclavis (clarinetist) to join them on several occasions. He performed as a duo with danish guitar player Hasse Poulsen (Colors in water and steel – Hôte marge 10), at a cine-concert with guitar player Pierre Durand, in a solo project (Morning Bear). He records frequently in New York with pianist James Carney (as a trio with Gerald Cleaver and also Samuel Ber). As he holds a state diploma in Jazz, he shares his time between his musical projects and teaching guitar.
To learn more about Richard go to his Bandcamp Page:https://richardbonnet1.bandcamp.com/
DM: How long are you playing? RB: I played the bass first when I had 11, but change quickly for the guitar. I taught myself except for some few lessons with a local Jazz guitarist.DM: Why Jazz?
RB: I was 17 When I studied with this local Jazz guitarist. . I remember it was interesting but disturbing because I understood nothing. I felt challenged by the music so I went to music shop to buy my first Jazz album, it was John McLaughlin's
Extrapolation. From then on, I never stopped.DM: Who are your major influences?RB: Joe Pass, Robert Johnson, Thelonious Monk, Marc Ribot, Steve Reich... And so many others
DM: How do you feel about the use of electronics in Jazz?RB: I tried a lot of electronics especially when I play for silent movies. It's interesting but I always return to my combo, reverb / volume pedal/ overdrive/distortion.DM: Where do you think Jazz is headed?
Sid Jacob
Sid Jacobs was born in Miami Beach, Florida. Sid spent his first few years in Havana, Cuba prior to the revolution, after which, the Jacobs family returned to Miami. It is there, at the age of seven, he began his fascination with the guitar. When his family moved to Nevada, Sid obtained a position as guitar instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. This made him, at eighteen, the youngest faculty member in the school's music department.
After moving to Los Angeles he developed the curriculum for the Advanced Bebop and Jazz Guitar course at the Dick Grove School and the Jazz Guitar class at the Musicians Institute (MI and GIT), where he continues to teach.
In 1991, his CD It's Not Goodnight was released. It is a straight-ahead blowing session featuring his original compositions. In 1998 Sid was the first North American jazz guitarist invited to perform in Argentina's "Guitars of the World" festival. In May 2001, he was invited to perform at the Ankara Music Festival in Turkey.
2007 saw the release of his CD Open Strings, a collection of pieces for solo guitar including his acclaimed arrangements of Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk tunes.
In 2018, Sid recorded his third CD "Three in One". This CD he recorded with Joe LaBarbera & Darek Oles
Some of the great jazz artists with whom Sid has performed include Harold Land, Eddie Harris, Buddy Montgomery, Joe Diorio, Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings and Javon Jackson.
To learn more about Sid, go to his website:http://www.sidjacobs.com
DM: How long are you playing
SJ: I first started guitar lessons when I was seven years old. My first teacher was a retired professional guitarist in Miami. With him I learned how to read and figure things out. When I was 17 I studied for a while with Vincent Bredice. He was Joe Diorio’s teacher twenty years earlier. He was all about the fundamentals, Bach and Paganini. I’ve been hanging around with a guitar most of my life. When I say it’s over sixty years it sounds like a lot, but I feel like I’m on book one page one.
Dan Adler was Born and raised in Israel, where he studied jazz guitar, music and composition privately while playing with some of Israel’s best known musicians. After moving to the US, he made New York City his home base and has studied, played and recorded with many of the finest players in the world. Dan Adler has several albums available on streaming platforms: “All Things Familiar” featuring Grant Stewart, "Back To The Bridge" featuring Joey DeFrancesco, and “Friends On The Moon” featuring Donald Vega and Arnon Palty.
To learn more about Dan, visit his website: danadler.com
DM: How long are you playing
DA: I started playing around age 10, first some classical and pop and then I got into rock, prog rock and eventually jazz. I was lucky to study with two teachers in Israel, Avery Sharon and Koby Luria, who taught me to appreciate jazz guitar and gave me the musical foundation to go out and play with other jazz musicians. I later studied with Gil Dor and other great musicians who taught me harmony, counterpoint, improvisation and arranging. When I moved to NYC I started taking lessons with all my heroes: Jack Wilkins, Vic Juris, Paul Bollenback, Peter Bernstein and many others.
DM: Why Jazz?
DA: I fell in love with jazz as a teenager. The teachers I mentioned pointed me in the right direction, but then I became relentless in seeking recordings, books, and any opportunity to hear and play live jazz. To this day, I think nothing matches the excitement of being in a New York jazz club and listening to great players interact with each other and with the audience.
DM:Who are your major influences?
DA: First and foremost I always say Joe Pass. His guitar playing always spoke to me both at an emotional level and at an intellectual level. His lines are so clear and perfect, I can hear the logic of their construction. As an engineer in my other life, I appreciate both the end-product, but also how it was constructed. Jack Wilkins is another player that never ceases to amaze me. And of course, jazz history and the current scene in New York are filled with creative geniuses that inspire and move me. I believe jazz represents the highest form of human expression: in-the-moment co-creation by attentive people. In an increasingly polarized world, jazz represents an ideal for how human beings can interact with each other in a way that lifts spirits and minds.
DM: How do you feel about the use of electronics in Jazz?
DA: I came into jazz from prog rock and jazz rock, so for me electronics were a way in. I later became more of a purist, but that is a personal choice. I have the utmost respect for people who can create music with whatever tools they find inspiring. I think the pandemic has forced musicians to learn to become more electronically literate in home-recording, synthesizers, video production and editing and teaching online. All of these are part of the electronic revolution. The only electronics that are detrimental to music are people gazing at their phones during a gig.
DM: Where do you think Jazz is headed?
DA: As I said, I think jazz is a unique and sophisticated art form. However, it has left the audience behind. I wish more jazz musicians would take it upon themselves not just to educate future jazz musicians, but also to educate the audience. I created a video series which I call “Active Listening In Jazz for non-Musicians”: ( http://y2u.be/Z5hZ0RAEcx4 ) where I try to explain to people the “rules of jazz”. The analogy I would give is that you can enjoy theater in a foreign language or an opera without a libretto, but your understanding and enjoyment go up a notch when you understand what is going on. Even if you speak English, you need some guidance to enjoy Shakespeare. We are at our best as an audience when our emotions and intellect are both engaged. This applies even to free jazz, because it helps to understand the rules the musicians are “breaking”. My dream is that every high school and university will offer “active listening” classes in addition to jazz history and appreciation.
DM: How long are you playing?
SC: I started out studying classical guitar when i was 7 at the Conservatory in my hometown in France. I was mostly self-taught as far as jazz goes.
DM: Why Jazz?
SC: When I was around 15, a friend of my mom gave me a record by Bill Evans ( “Conversation with Myself”). I was simply blown away.
DM: Who are your major influences?
SC: As far as musicians go, I think Bill Evans was the most influential. I was a big fan of Allan Holdsworth when I was a teen but I never was much in guitar players in my early years. Wes Montgomery is the pinnacle of swing and elegance to me, I love Billy Bean and Pat Martino. Lenny Breau had the same emotional impact on me as Bill Evan.
DM: How do you feel about the use of electronics in Jazz?
SC: I love to listen when other players use it, but I find it sometimes difficult to be part of my sound. Gilad Hekselman and Kurt Rosenwinkel come to mind when I think of the successful use of electronics, but I am very much attracted to the natural sound of a guitar like that of Peter Bernstein.
DM: Where do you think Jazz is headed?
CA: I have no idea...in a good direction. I suppose, considering all the amazing young players around.
I want to thank all these amazing guitarists for their contribution to this Blog and to jazz. I am eternally grateful.
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