What's Hot With Jazz Guitar: Sheryl Bailey

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!)