Solo Jazz Guitar - doing it yourself!
Greetings from guitarist Frank Singer:

Ever since the first day I heard a whole jazz standard come out of a solo guitar, I wanted to be able to do that. During my days at Berklee College of Music in Boston, I was exposed to guitarists Joe Pass, Lenny Breau, and Jon Damian, all masters of solo jazz guitar. In addition to seeing all three perform live at various times, I was lucky enough to have private lessons with Jon Damian during my senior year of college at Berklee.

My first teacher at Berklee, Andy Steinborn, taught me several arrangements of standards so that I could play with another guitarist for my brother's wedding. Erroll Garner's classic Misty was one, and Ellington's Satin Doll was played for the walk down the stairs (the wedding was held in my home). I still use pieces of these arrangements today. Thanks, Andy! I also had the distinct opportunity to study chord solo arrangements with then head of the Guitar Department at Berklee William Leavitt, author of the Modern Method for Guitar series currently used at Berklee.

Bill Leavitt was a markedly nice man, and an excellent solo guitarist. Each week for an entire semester, he would review arrangements of jazz standards he had assigned the week before, and make corrections, improvements, and all-around helpful commentary. I also had the unique opportunity to jam with him during lessons! The information I gathered from him and his books had been invaluable in my professional career, and he deepened my understanding of solo jazz guitar immensely.

It was at this point that my lessons with Jon Damian took place. Jon got me focused on listening to my improvisations with a critical ear, making tapes and writing critique sheets that I would bring to my lessons and discuss. While not focused specifically on jazz standards, this work took my standards playing to the next level, since I became much more alert and relaxed in my playing.

After working for a few more years to bring all of this together, I came across a gig, and decided to give it a try. The job was for tips and food, and the food was really good! I actually didn't do too badly there, and had a regular who constantly asked for tunes I didn't know, thus preparing me in one more way for my future gigging career. I played there for almost a year, and began to accumulate my memorized repertoire, while still reading many standards from the Real Book, a collection of jazz standards in a single bound volume.

After I left Boston and moved to Erie Pennsylvania, I got the chance to play a bit more. In a large city gigs can actually be more scarce, since there are so many competing for the same work. I found myself playing a variety of private parties, coffee houses, and special concerts, all the while feeling a bit more confident with each performance. Regular duos with vocalists helped quite a bit with the improvisational aspects, but with vocals there is less melody playing, so I didn't necessarily learn all the tunes as deeply. Still, I gathered another source of material, and deepened my understanding more.

At this point, the miracles of modern technology stepped in, and encouraged me to attempt some recording. In short, I got a CD burner! After experimenting with various setups, I discovered that I could get a professional sounding recording with my own burner and a few other pieces of equipment. I was off and running. After two or three tests of There Will Never Be Another You, I found a sound that worked, and I proceeded to record the rest of the album, doing one take of each song except Miami Beach Rhumba, where the head got me on the way out (drat!).

More modern technology enabled me to master the CD on my personal computer, and design the artwork as well. Initially, I even produced all of the disc at home. I still produce the CDs with an exciting new product from Primera Technology, which records the CD and then prints the label in an automated process, and my printing is done locally in Erie.

It is truly amazing how far all of this has come. To imagine doing this ten years ago is unthinkable. Today, it is commonplace, and for me, that means I can bring you oFF tHE tOP: standards 1 directly from my living room to yours!

Click here to purchase oFF tHE tOP: standards 1 through CDBaby.com

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