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Brian Tarquin Brian Tarquin is an Emmy Award Winning Composer/Guitarist and Producer, and has established himself as a top rate TV composer and owner of Jungle Room Studios in New York. His credits consist of: a top 20 hit on the Billboard Charts for, “This is Acid Jazz Vol. 2” (Instinct Records), written the theme music for MTV’s Road Rules, composed for such films as; The Watcher, Chill Factor, Desert Heat and the First 20 Million and picked up two Emmy’s for “Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series” in 2003 and 2005. In the mid-late 90’s he wrote and produced three Acid Jazz CDs for Instinct Records. He exploded onto the scene with the release of LAST KISS GOODBYE, with the single ONE ARABIAN KNIGHT that charted #4 on Gavin and R&R in Jazz Radio. With his 1999 follow-up album SOFT TOUCH, that pushed his first single, DARLIN DARLIN BABY to #9 on the charts. . Vinatge Guitar “Tarquin’s playing is a treat for any rock and soul guitar lover….magnificent rock guitar.” 20th Century Guitar “…masterpiece of funk and groove electronica bustling with ultra intense guitar works JAZZ TIMES magazine describes Brian Tarquin as a musician of “…considerable skills, whose debut recording showcases ringing, harmonic-driven melodies.” And JAZZIZ describes Brian’s technique as having…“Cosmopolitan flair…reminiscent of Guitarists Lee Ritenour.” |
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Asphalt Jungle The Emmy Award winning team of Tarquin & Ingram, have a long history in recording/producing albums together. Inspired by the early 90's London Acid Jazz and British Electronic Music Revolution, the duo scored a “Top 20” Billboard hit in 1999 with, This Is Acid Jazz: The Best Of Acid Jazz Vol. 2 on Instinct Records. They released their first album, Electro Ave in 2002 to critical acclaim. They also produced a dance remix for the hit song, “Tubthumping” by the band, Chumbawamba on Republic Records. In 2003 and 2005 they won an “Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series” and were nominated for another Emmy in 2004. Together they wrote the theme music for MTV's “Road Rules,” as well as producing music for many other shows such as MTV’s “Tough Enough,” ABC's “Making The Band,” “Extra” and the Keanu Reeves film, The Watcher. Their second release, Enjoy This Trip, successfully charted to top 30 on the CMJ charts. Tracks like “Rock the Nation,” blend funk and groove laced with phatt guitar licks, followed by the Rasta rap vocals of, “I Tell You That” and the hypnotic drum n’ bass melody of “Galway.” The album also includes the chill out track, “Tekken” that first debuted as MTV’s “Road Rules” theme song on one of their luxurious seasons. Now on their new release, Junglization, they explore new territory with the tracks, “Athena” and “Apocalypse,” by experimenting with live string arrangements, showcasing their extensive musical ability to add depth and drama over heavy drum n bass breaks, which truly sets them apart from other electronic artists. The album opens with the classic Bob Marley tune, “Mr Brown” stunningly remixed and tweaked, breakbeat-style for the club DJs. Asphalt Jungle's first release, Electro Ave was a culmination of experience and desire. It incorporated funky big beats with metallic percussive guitar riffs and featured the MTV “Road Rules” theme, "Witchcraft.” The album included a bonus remix of “Witchcraft” by DJ Soul Slinger & DJ Wally of Liquid Sky. It also contained the track "Tinsel Town" which was heard by millions of “Making the Band” viewers. With their own unique style, Asphalt Jungle blended live raw guitar tones with fast paced bottomless grooves. |
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James Ryan James Ryan is a guitar slinger hailing from Melbourne Australia, with career highlights such as touring the world with Australian legends Men At Work and TV performances with artists such as Shania Twain and Ronan Keating. His diverse influences and playing styles see him glide freely between old skool blues, modern metal mayhem and sweet melodic bliss. As a writer/producer for Fable Music Publishing, James' catchy and clever guitar tracks have been used on hundreds of radio and TV ads. Currently, he's producing and collaborating on songs for New York songwriter Larry Dvoskin from his ilovenoise studio and gigging several nights a week with the duo, Kombi. You can also find him touring the States as a clinician for Roland/Boss, specializing in their guitar and recording gear. James highly anticipated blend of Instrumental Rock guitar mayhem on his debut release, "Blown" is due out this Winter. |
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Billy Sheehan In his own words: I started playing about a thousand years ago--starting with local Buffalo, NY bands which evolved into a group called "Talas" in the early 70's.Talas played a zillion gigs & opened for tons of major bands as they came through Buffalo. Eventually, Talas opened for Van Halen in 1980 and from that, David Lee Roth called to start a band after he left Van Halen. After "Eat' Em & Smile" album & tour with Dave, Steve Vai, Greg Bissonette, & Brett Tuggle, the "Skyscraper" album was recorded. After that, I was on my own & started Mr. Big. Our 1st album did OK, but the second one "Lean into It" went platinum & had several hits. Mr. Big continued on successfully until 2001 when we split up. As a side project, I started "Niacin" (Improvisational/fusion band) with Dennis Chambers on drums & John Novello on B3---that's still going strong & we're on our 5th record "Organik" now. My first solo CD was called "Compression" in 2002---on Steve Vai's "Favored Nations" record label, followed up by my 2nd solo CD "Cosmic Troubadour" last year. I've done a lot of touring with Steve recently--especially as a follow up to his "Real Illusions" CD (CBS/Sony) which I played on. There's more---to be continued/elaborated upon/& further explained. I play bass. I'm still learning. I live for music. I've done over 4000 shows & made dozens of records. I'm a lucky guy & very thankful to the MANY people who made it possible. |
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Zakk Wylde Hearing on the Howard Stern Show that Ozzy would be auditioning unknown guitarists, Zakk never thought it to be more than a fantasy. At one Zyris show Zakk was discovered playing by rock photographers Mark Weiss and Dave Feld. Amazed at Zakk’s playing, Dave confronted Zakk, and mentioned that Ozzy was looking for a new guitarist and that they would pass along a press kit. Zakk got the audition with Ozzy. He took the audition figuring, “Well I’m only working at a gas station, what do I got to lose?!” During the audition Zakk played a few Ozzy songs and some acoustic and classical stuff. After the audition he returned home thinking he didn’t get the job. One day he received a phone call from Sharon Osbourne asking if he would join the band. And of course the rest is history. Zakk has been voted "Most Valuable Player" for three successive years in the "Guitar World" ( US) magazine polls. In 2005, he was also voted "Best Metal Guitarist", "Number 1 Shredder" and received the "Metal Hammer" ( UK magazine) "Riff Lord" and "Golden God" awards. |
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Steve Morse Instrumental rock guitarist Steve Morse took his primary influence, like so many others, from the Beatles. Expanding his listening to include prevalent rock bands such as the Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, as well as a nascent interest in country music. His first band, Dixie Dregs (aka the Dregs), went on to record eight albums of bright, impressive fusion. He then went on to form the Steve Morse Band with the Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein and bass player Jerry Peek. Their 1984 debut, The Introduction, continued to mine a particularly adept blend of instrumental rock fusion, with a guest role for guitarist Albert Lee. After a brief spell with Kansas, Morse recorded his first "solo" collection, High Tension Wires, which also included a reunion of the original Dixie Dregs on the track "Leprechaun Promenade". By the advent of Southern Steel, the Steve Morse Band was a core team of Morse, his Dixie Dregs colleague Dave LaRue (bass), and Van Romaine (drums). In addition to his work with his own band, Morse recorded and toured with the re-formed Dixie Dregs throughout the 90s. The acclaim surrounding Morse has rarely died down throughout his career - Guitar Player magazine made him ineligible for their Best Overall Guitarist poll after he won it five times in succession. He has also collaborated with artists including Eddie Van Halen, Steve Howe and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and accepted an invitation to join Deep Purple for a spell in 1994. He now continues his career recording with Deep Purple as well as working on various solo projects. |
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Will Ray Few guitar pickers can out-slide, out-bend or out-torture a Telecaster the way Will Ray can. As a member of the pyrotechnical twang trio The Hellecasters, Will has created a place for himself among some of the world's guitar greats. In 1995 Hipshot products began marketing an invention of Will's called the Stealth Slide. They also began manufacturing the Will Ray Model B-Bender for guitar. In addition, Will released two much anticipated guitar instructional videos, B-Bender Mania and Stealth Slide Technique on Rambo Videos. Due to the world wide popularity of the Hellecasters among guitarists, Fender Musical Instruments unveiled limited edition signature guitars on the three members of the band in 1997 including the Will Ray-a-Caster. This was a dream come true for Will. He now was designing a production guitar for the world's leading manufacturer of guitars! The following year Fender released the Will Ray Mojo-Tele signature model from the Fender Custom Shop. Will and the Hellecasters had finally arrived! |
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Randy Coven Born in New York. In the shadows of the growing technical rock bassists of the early 80s, ruled by Billy Sheehan and Stu Hamm, was evolving talent ripping beneath these mammoth sounds; who through the 90’s and 90’s would erupt into one of the finest cutting edge bassists in the rock industry. Randy Coven is now sort after by the top named musicians and influencing fellow bassists worldwide. This bass virtuoso, has also shown us, with great passion, another side from his heavy rock and metal persona, through his albums we hear a rich soulful and sometimes jazzy musician, stunning us with his awe-inspiring bass solos. |
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Michael Lee Firkins In 1990, Michael released his self titled debut album on Shrapnel Records. This release showcased Michael's signature sound of rock blended with country, blues and jazz. With the strength of this album, and the help of an international advertising campaign from YAMAHA GUITARS, Michael's first release sold more than 100,000 copies. This well received album also landed Michael the winner of the “Best New Talent” reader's poll in Guitar Player magazine and Guitar for the Practicing Musician. He was also hailed as “One of the most influential players of the next ten years” by Guitar for the Practicing Musician. As Michael's music was also popular in Europe, Firkins won the Edison Award, which is Holland's version of a Grammy. |
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Pete Anderson Grammy Award-winning artist/producer/businessman, Pete Anderson, is responsible for recordings which have sold over 30 million units worldwide. His groundbreaking work with Dwight Yoakam helped ring in the “new traditionalist” movement in country music – while crossing over to a wider audience in the rock, pop, and blues worlds. He has also been responsible for highly touted projects by such artists as Roy Orbison, k.d. lang, Flaco Jimenez, Buck Owens, Lucinda Wiliams, Jim Lauderdale, Rosie Flores, Michelle Shocked, and Thelonious Monster, among others. As a guitarist and solo artist, Anderson has been lauded as a world-class musician who has influenced a generation of axe-slingers through his melding of country, blues, honky-tonk, and jazz technique. With the formation of his own independent record label, Little Dog Records, over 10 years ago, Anderson proved to be prescient in recognizing the challenges the record business would eventually face by creating an environment where he could record truly talented artists without the financial pressures experienced by the majors. |
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Jeff Beck Jeff Beck created two landmark two jazz-fusion albums—“Blow By Blow” (1975) and “Wired” (1976). The all-instrumental albums were a critical and popular success and remain two of the top-selling guitar instrumental albums of all time. The live album, “Jeff Beck with the Jan Hammer Group Live” followed in 1977. Music may have been one of Beck’s earliest passions but it has always shared space with a love of hot rods that began as soon as he could see over the dashboard. After the success “Blow By Blow” and “Wired ,” Beck began devoting more time to his fleet of hot rods. “I like the studio because it’s delicate; you’re working for sound. I like the garage because chopping up lumps of steel is the exact opposite of delicate,” explains Beck. “The garage is a more dangerous place though. I’ve never almost been crushed by a guitar, but I can’t say the same about one of my Corvettes.” |
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John Paul Jones Born January 3rd 1946, John Paul Jones became a prolific musical director and arranger of a huge range of prominent sixties artist before forming Led Zeppelin with Jimmy Page in 1968. Since 1980 his collaborators have included Paul McCartney, La Fura Dels Baus, Brian Eno, The Butthole Surfers and Diamanda Galas. His debut solo album Zooma was released in September 1999, followed by The Thunderthief in 2001. |
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Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke became the first bassist in history to headline tours, selling out shows worldwide, and have his albums certified gold. The word “legend” was used to describe Stanley by the time he was 25 years old. He released numerous solo albums, as well as perform with other greats such as: George Duke, Chick Corea, |
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Jimmy Page |
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David Hines David Jerome Hines was born to famous Opera singers Jerome Hines and Lucia(maiden name) Evangelista. He played piano and cello as a child, then pursued electric bass and guitar from age 11 on. Pursued his music education, attending Berklee College of music, Manhattan School of music, and receiving private instruction from Stanley Clarke on bass and composition back in the seventies. Dave was principally interested in the fusion music of Miles Davis, Weather Report, Return to Forever, and others. Dave went on to promote fusion music, playing with George Johnson ( from Lonnie Smith, Mcoy Tyner) and other fusion projects all along the way. Recording credits include Pamela Hines and Boston bandmate Miles Donahue. He is currently private teaching and performing in Virginia Beach ,Virginia, and living there with his wife Pamela (jazz pianist), and his Daughters Katrina and Gabriella.This is his first solo album, and is is currently writing for album number 2 |
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Allan Holdsworth Allan Holdsworth is widely regarded by fans and contemporary musicians as one of the 20th century's most prominent guitarists. He is one of a handful of musicians who has consistently proven himself as an innovator in between and within the worlds of rock and jazz music. Many of music's best-known instrumental masters cite Holdsworth as that rare and shining voice—a legendary player who continues to push the outer limits of instrumental technique and the electric guitar's range of tonal and textural possibilities. Particularly during the 90s, Holdsworth has enjoyed the recognition so many musicians strongly feel he deserves, given that he has developed his career outside the big label mainstream and has consistently produced his own recordings with complete creative control since the mid-80s. Despite the uncompromising nature of Holdsworth's predominantly genre-defying solo projects, he's no stranger to all-star jazz festival line-ups or large venue rock audiences. Musician Magazine placed Holdsworth near the top of their “100 greatest guitarists of all time.” There's never been a shortage of media attention or acclaim for Holdsworth's accomplishments and originality. An inductee of Guitar Player Magazine's Hall of Fame, Holdsworth is a five-time winner in their readers' poll. |
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John Scofield John Scofield is an american jazz guitarist and composer, who played and eventually collaborated with Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham, Medeski Martin & Wood, George Duke and many other important artists. At ease in the bebop idiom, Scofield is also well versed in jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul, and other forms of modern American music. |
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Hal Lindes Hal Lindes was a part of DIRE STRAITS for five years, working with Mark Knopfler on various groundbreaking albums including "Love Over Gold" and "Alchemy". Hal has since moved onto film composing, utilizing his distinctive guitar work as a powerful voice, and painting rich and evocative backdrops onto the screen images. Hal's score have won various awards in Great Britain, including a Royal Television Society Award and a TRIC Award. What the Press said about the TV sound track title for 'Between the Lines': 'The series gives the apocalyptic impression that crime is ruling supreme and that there is not much hope for society as a whole; an aspect which is appropriately underlined by the outstanding musical achievements of Hal Lindes (ex-Dire Straits).' |