Tony Janflone Jr.

Tony Janflone. Jr. knew what he wanted to do with his life at the early
age of 13. He wanted to be a guitarist. He had been playing since the
age of 9 and having been influenced from his earliest days by his father,
also a guitarist, and his exposure to all facets of music, Rock, R&B, Jazz,
Country and Classical, his love of music was inherent and not to be denied.

Beginning with the proverbial garage band he progressed through his high
school years garnering the Louis Armstrong Award and the National
Association of Jazz Educators Award for outstanding musicianship.
Secondary school years behind him, he decided to accept the opportunity to
tour the country with a band playing dates in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and
Atlantic City. After a year on the road, he linked up with a band with his
father and brother. It was during this time while performing in New York,
that Tony met a jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, who after listening to the
band commented, "Tony is one burning guitar player... who I am confident
will go on to greater fame". Following a few years with the band, Tony
lived in San Antonio, Texas, where he continued his schooling while teaching
and playing in the San Antonio and Austin areas. His students included
Henry Thomas, start of the movie "ET". He worked with several groups in
Texas including the famed drummer Louis Bellson, demonstrating his diversity
by playing anything from jazz to mariachi to Texas swing. It was during
this time, too that he studied with Pat Martino and Jackie King.

Upon returning to Pittsburgh, Tony has found success in many areas of music
being one of the most sought after guitarists in the area. He words at
many of the local studios performing on CD's, demos, jingles, etc. Including
commercials for Eat 'n Park, Fisher's Big Wheel, etc. Tony has recently
completed writing, recording and producing the music of the newest
commercial for the Gateway Clipper Fleet as well as starring in the video
footage. The commercial can be seen several times a day on all major
stations in the tri-state area. Tony enjoys success with his group"Tony
Janflone Jr. and InSync"capturing the nomination for five years for
Pittsburgh's Best Jazz Guitarist for the Stroh's/In Pittsburgh Music
Awards. He has also captured the 1995 award for the Best album for his
CD Pieces, best vocalist and best band. Tony's performing credits include
opening for Hiram Bullock, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, Toninho Horta,
Janis Siegel, The Yellowjackets, David Sanborn, Joe Williams, Diane
Reeves, The Manhattan Transfer, Larry Carlton, Stanley Clarke, Billy
Cobham, Jeff Beck, Carlos Santana,Ted Nugent,Chris Duarte,and Chicago.

The Spring of 1991 brought the release of Kenny Blake's Interior Design on
Heads Up Records featuring Tony. The CD climbed quickly to #15 on the
National Billboard Jazz charts. Promoting th effort took him to New
York's Bottom Line and Washington DC's Blues Alley. While in DC. he and
the group performed on BET and the Jazz on BET network television show
that is broadcast nationwide. Tony has also completed two other CD's on
which he is the featured soloist. You can hear Tony on the Columbus, Ohio
based group Andreas Fault's latest release and Kenny Blake's 1992
release, Rumor Has it. In addition, Tony has released two of his own
projects, the first one titled Profile, consisting of ten original instrumental
compositions. The tape is a compilation of Tony's many musical tastes
combining Jazz, Blues and Rock to form his Profile. His second release,
Pieces, is a CD which is a combination of both vocal and instrumental music.

Recently, Tony has joined the ranks of such guitarists as Alex Lifeson
(RUSH), Joe Perry (Aerosmith), and Jeff Healey, to name a few, when he
was chosen by Evans Guitar Products, based on Vancouver, Canada, to be a
world-wide endorser of their guitar pickups. He will be acting as a clinician
for Evans Pickups and has begun doing clinics at various universities including
Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA and most recently at the Guitar
Workshop in San Antonio, Texas. In July 1994, Tony and his band were
invited to perform at the 1994 Major League All-Star Pre-game Gala and
for the Pittsburgh Pirates Organization at the All-Star Game. In addition,
Tony was the featured guitarist on PBS's "Heroes" documentary with Fred
Rogers (of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.) His composition, "Hey, Wake Up!"
from the Pieces CD was used in the Summer of 1995 as the opening theme
song for the Molson 500 broadcast nationally on the ABC Television network
.

Tony is Currently recording his newest CD," In Time" to be released in
1998. A few of the guest artists appearing on the cd will be : Phil
Madeira(Amy Grant ,Michael McDonald,Phil Keaggy),John Sferra(Phil
Keaggy,The Glass Harp) and Donnie Iris(The Jaggers).

Tony's aspiration is to perform music all over the world and to share his
enthusiasm for music with people everywhere. Some people have already
picked up his enthusiasm and here is what they had to say: The Gavin
Report, (an international music trade publication) says,"One of our favorite
undiscovered talents ,a young guitarist, Tony Janflone burns his way through
solos while he often takes a tranquil acoustic approach.". Jazziz Magazine
describes Tony's playing as "great solo action, can't miss."