Gary Wittner, jazz guitar
Gary
Wittner began playing the guitar at age nine. As a youth he had a deep
affinity for the blues and was drawn to the music of Rural Blues artists
such as Lightning Hopkins and Big Bill Broonzy. In college, Gary's music
became the major focus of his life, and when he heard the music of Thelonious
Monk it was love at first sound. He enrolled at the Berklee College of
Music where he began studying and transcribing Monk's music in earnest.
Graduating in 1981, Gary moved to Colorado where he began performing "all-Monk" concerts. After three years as a freelance guitarist, Gary began a Master's Degree program at Washington State University, where he completed his thesis (a study of Monk's compositional style) in 1986. From Washington, Gary was offered a faculty position at the University of Maine at Augusta. Based there until 1997, Gary taught and developed courses in Jazz History, Rock and Roll History, Jazz Theory, Ear Training, Music Business, Ensembles, and Private Lessons. He was the Jazz and Contemporary Music Department Coordinator in 1996 and was given the University's Distinguished Scholar Award the same year. Currently, Gary is the jazz guitar instructor at the University of Southern Maine, where he has taught lessons and ensembles since 1998.
Outside of the university, Gary continued to develop his presentations on the music and life of Thelonious Monk. To date, he has presented this program at clubs and universities throughout the USA and in Canada, Poland, Russia, England, Wales, Austria, and France. Gary has been a featured artist in concerts with Reggie Workman, Richard Davis, Eddie Gomez, Clark Terry, Art Lande, Paul McCandless, Peter Ind, and James Emery. He has performed for the Monk family, and been interviewed on the radio with Thelonious Monk, Jr. Gary's first book "Thelonious Monk for Guitar" , published by the Hal Leonard Corp. was released internationally in 1999. Gary has also developed a program that he presents for lower, middle and high school students called "Mojo, Monk, and Me". This presentation is both entertaining and informative, and has become very popular with students and faculty.
Joined by Howard Johnson (tuba, contra-bass clarinet) and Bruce Ditmas (drums), Gary's most recent CD is called Roadway. It includes 3 compositions by Thelonious Monk, 7 originals and 3 folk/blues arrangements for solo guitar, performed in a style Gary refers to as "Big Bill Broonzy meets Thelonious Monk." This combines the right hand guitar style of the rural blues with more angular aspects of Monk's music.
Click here for Gary Wittner's comprehensive website
Contact:
Gary Wittner
University of Southern Maine School
of Music
37 College Avenue
Gorham, ME 04038
207-780-5265
gary@garywittner.com
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