This week we feature jazz guitarist Steve Herberman.

I got to hear Steve play at John Pisano's Guitar Night at Spazios this week and I must say he is quite an impressive player. Steve plays with his fingers and thumb like classical guitarist and gets very smooth flow to his lines. In addition, he uses a seven string guitar, so the added bass string gives his comping and extra dimension. Steve has a new CD available (with some sound clips online to listen to). This CD, called 'Thought Lines', uses the instrumentation of guitar, bass, drums and sax, a favorite combination of mine.

All in all, Steve Herberman is a very fine jazz guitarist, and I highly recommend checking him out.

Guitar Night was a veritable orgy of guitar playing this time around, with John Pisano, John Stowell and Cory Christiansen filling out the bill. The interplay between Steve and these other great players was a joy to listen to...

Steve Herberman's Bio:

"His talent has such an energetic flare, with his own voice, that he cannot help become a major force in jazz," writes Jude Hibler of 20th Century Guitar magazine. Jazz guitarist Jimmy Bruno states "Steve Herberman is one of the freshest new jazz voices on the scene today." Herberman's style is rooted in swing and bebop yet his forward thinking approach to harmony and rhythm puts him on the cutting edge of jazz improvisation and composition.

Born in Bethesda Maryland in 1966, Herberman was first exposed to jazz when his first grade teacher played a film of Louis Armstrong to her young students. Steve played piano and trombone before he decided to take up the guitar at age 11. When Herberman was 14 he had already decided to study music in college. He graduated with honors from Berklee College of Music in 1988 having studied with Gary Burton, John LaPorta, and Bill Leavitt.

Steve moved back to the Washington DC area and began a serious study of fingerstyle guitar and counterpoint. This led him to adopt the seven-string guitar in 1993. Herberman has performed at Blues Alley, the Kennedy Center, the East Coast Jazz Festival and Spazio in Los Angeles. He has performed with bassists Keter Betts and Buster Williams, saxophonists Buck Hill and Gary Bartz and trumpeter Terell Stafford and guitarists Howard Alden, John Pisano, Paul Bollenback and Joe Puma.

In 1999 Steve Herberman began teaching jazz guitar at Towson University near Baltimore where he is an adjunct faculty member. He directs several jazz ensembles and teaches private guitar lessons and performs in the faculty jazz ensemble featuring original compositions of new music.

In 2001 Steve released his first CD as a leader titled ìThought Linesî featuring a jazz quartet playing a program divided between Herberman originals and jazz standards. Jazz guitarist Jim Hall calls it "a terrific CD." The All Music Guide gives 'Thought Lines' a four star rating. In 2002 Steve signed with String Jazz Recordings and 'Thought Lines' was added to their catalog. It has received numerous national airplay on 'Jazz After Hours' hosted by Jim Wilke and NPR's Morning Edition.

Steve is currently writing a sourcebook for musicians interested in improvising in a chordal contrapuntal style. He is also working on his second CD as a leader. Herberman will be a featured performer at the First World Guitar Congress in Towson Maryland projected to be one of the largest guitar events of its kind. Steve continues to teach at Towson University where he developed their curriculum for jazz guitar.

Steve's website (with sound clips) is at: http://www.steveherberman.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 in Jazz Guitar' columns, audio clips of Doc's playing, and many additional features. Doc endorse Heritage Guitars and is a featured artist on their website. He also endorses the new Pignose Valve Tube Amps -- great for jazz (and anything else!)