Homepage Forums Guitar News Weekly Guitar News Weekly Archive What’s Hot With Jazz Guitar: Sheryl Bailey

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    by Doc Dosco
    http://www.docdosco.com

    I am going to depart from my reviews of affordable jazz guitars and
    cover a few more guitar players. This week I am featuring Sheryl Bailey.

    Sheryl sent me her new CD ‘Live @ The Fat Cat’, and I love it. I have
    reviewed a lot fine jazz guitar CDs before but I find that many end up
    languishing in the rarely played pile. Sheryl’s CDs are different. I
    have several of her CDs in my ‘frequent play’ collection and this one will
    be no different.

    Sheryl Bailey smokes on this CD. She is extremely creative in her lines,
    and her technique is impeccable. Sheryl has a distinctive sound and
    style of playing that in infectious. I usually don’t gush this much over
    jazz guitar CDs, but Live @ The Fat Cat is a treasure … a real joy to
    listen to. I highly recommend it.

    Online Bio

    Guitarist Sheryl Bailey is rated among the foremost bopbased guitarists
    to have emerged in the 1990’s. Her attack can be direct and hard
    swinging, but she also exudes subtlety, elegance of phrase and a pure,
    warm, liquid sound. Bill Milkowski has written about her: ” a modernist
    burner with an abundance of Pat Martino-style chops, Bailey prefers
    angular lines, odd harmonies and the occasional touch of dissonance as
    she sails up and down the fretboard with fluid abandon.” – JazzTimes
    Magazine, Februrary 2005

    Her musical activities aren’t confined to groups working strictly in the
    orthodox, bop based jazz tradition, as she has toured and recorded with
    bassist, Richard Bona and is a member of David Krakauer’s Klezmer
    Madness. Other artists are tenor saxophonist, Gary Thomas, Urban Folk
    and Jazz artist, KJ Denhert, and pop diva, Irene Cara. While her mid
    1990’s CD Little Misunderstood sees her playing with total familiarity
    and command of the fusion idiom, her latest releases, Reunion of Souls,
    The Power of Three, and Bull’s Eye represent her love of contemporary
    straight-ahead jazz.

    In 1995 Sheryl was awarded third place in the Thelonious Monk
    International Jazz Guitar Competition, and has toured South America on
    behalf of the US State Department as a Jazz Ambassador, honoring the
    music of Duke Ellington. She currently leads her own trio, The Sheryl
    Bailey Three (Gary Versace on Hammond B3 and Ian Froman on drums). Her
    2002 release, The Power of Three was critically acclaimed and charted in
    the top 20 of the Jazz Week radio charts. The trio conjures the essence
    of the Grant Green/ Larry Young/ Elvin Jones band of the late 60’s.

    She is also in demand as an educator. Sheryl has been an Assistant
    Professor of Guitar at the esteemed Berklee College of Music since 2000,
    and has been a popular clinician at the National Guitar Summer workshop,
    The Stanford Jazz Workshop, The Duquesne Jazz Guitar Seminar, Uarts in
    Philadelphia, and at Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia.

    Sheryl’s latest release is titled, Bull’s Eye. The CD features nine new
    compositions and tightly woven improvisations from the trio. A track
    from the disc, ” Old and Young Blues” will be featured in the Master
    Anthology of Jazz solos, vol. IV by Mel Bay in January 2005. She is also
    working on a book for Mel Bay about modern approaches to jazz
    improvisation. She keeps a hectic itinerary touring, teaching, and
    recording.

    Sheryl Bailey’s homepage:
    http://sherylbailey.com/

    Doc Dosco is a jazz guitarist, composer and audio consultant living in Los Angeles, CA. His website is located at http://www.docdosco.com, where you can find more information on the ‘What’s Hot with Jazz Guitar’ columns, audio clips of Doc’s playing, and many additional features. Doc endorses Heritage Guitars and is featured artist on their website. He also endorses the new Pignose Valve Tube Amps — great for jazz (and anything else!)

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