Welcome to my website & thank you for stopping by… I am happy and grateful to be involved in these creative endeavors that are my passions, and truly fortunate for the opportunity to share them with you all.
My journey through the passageways of the jazz experience has been, and continues to be one of joy and discovery. In the course of following my heart, I have played hundreds of gigs ranging from the sublime to the absurd, and have spent countless hours practicing, studying, listening, transcribing, reading, and haunting the dark cellars of the New York City Jazz experience. It all leads to you, the valued listener, and to this opportunity to share my experiences with you via our treasured art form. Please avail yourself of the offerings contained in this site, and don't hesitate to e-mail me with comments and suggestions.
Spring(more like Summer...), seems to have arrived, & with it the hope of new plantings-growth & harvest. Feel free to insert you own metaphor here______.
2008 proved to be a year of roiling surprises, seemingly in every facet of life. Without descending into political speak, I will simply say that I have great hope, tempered with a healthy dose of realistic expectation, for our future as a people. What emboldens me is the notion that I can think of us all as we – because we are all truly links in a chain that holds this society together.
On the live performance front, I continue to play at Havana Central at their West End and Union Square locations here in Manhattan. Check the Gigs page on this site for specifics. YouTube has become a wonderful outlet for my music, and there are currently 120+ jazz performance videos on my channel: www.youtube.com/joegig . My four CDs are in print and available in both material and digital formats, from this site, and from www.cdbaby.com ; www.emusic.com ; www.itunes.com ; and from many other locations. The titles are: Inside Out; 3 Spirits; Clairvoyant Avenue; and Sound Scape. Soon to be available as a download will be Flashback Premonition.
My ongoing collaborations with guitarist Carl Barry, bassist David Shaich, and drummer Tyrone Govan will bring forth a new recording in 2009. We are all composing and arranging new material for this project. I look forward to it, as I look forward to the coming of Spring…
I continue to write for Just Jazz Guitar magazine. The February 2009 issue will be out shortly. Look for my compositional contribution, first edi(c)t.
On a bummer note, 20th Century Guitar magazine closed its doors this past December ’08. Larry, Ray, Jim, Rob, Liz, et al, have been more than generous to and supportive of me through the years. They will continue to be valued friends. I only hope that I can be of service to them in their future endeavors.
My collaboration with poet/hinge theorist Heller Levinson, began with a partnering of my music, along with that of saxophonist Jimmy Halperin, with Heller’s brilliant writings. An offshoot of this interaction has been my return to poetry after decades of not exploring that aspect of my creative force. I am proud to published on a wonderful poetry/essay site: The Jivin’ Ladybug (http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8911e/jivinladybug/).
I have also been doing some drawings and primitive watercolors, so look for the addition of pages devoted to my two latest passions on this site.
On the guitar/amp front, I happily continue to play Forshage Custom guitars, equipped with La Bella strings, with sound translated by DiMarzio pickups, and amplification by JazzKat amplifiers.
I look forward to your feedback and to seeing you in the clubs and theaters.
