Jeff Linsky

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Jeff Linsky (born 1952) is an American guitarist who has achieved a rare level of improvisational freedom on the solo guitar. Acoustic Guitar Magazine writes: "This astonishing guitarist seems to have bridged entirely the troublesome gap between brain and fingers." Guitar Player Magazine writes: "His talent is the stuff guitarists' dreams are made of." The Los Angeles Times describes Linsky as: "Simply the finest fingerstyle guitarist you will ever see or hear."

[edit] Biography

A native of Southern California, Jeff Linsky began playing the guitar at the age of ten. His passion for music and for the guitar, in particular, was immediately apparent. He played everything he heard, from the popular music on the radio to his own interpretations of symphonies. He played along with records, he played along with the television - he even had his guitar with him at the dinner table. This passion, and the resultant ear training and dexterity he gained from it, did not go unnoticed. Local music store owner and respected guitarist and author, Gene Leis, took an interest in Jeff's playing and introduced the enthusiastic young guitarist to many of Los Angeles' top studio guitar players, including Laurindo Almeida, Johnny deRose, Ron Anthony, Jimmy Stewart, Vicente Gomez and Joe Pass. Spending time with these accomplished musicians proved to be highly educational. Although primarily a self-taught musician, Jeff was able to study privately with both Spanish guitar virtuoso Vicente Gomez and jazz great Joe Pass.

At 17, Jeff was already touring professionally as a sideman, sharing the stage with pop groups like the Grass Roots and The Standells. By 19, he had decided to focus more on combining his classical guitar technique with his interest in improvisation and jazz, and began his world travels as a solo guitar player. Always anxious to experience different cultures and musical influences, he met and performed with a variety of artists - from the popular Gypsie violinist Markus Reinhardt (Django's nephew) in Germany to the master of the ukulele, Ohta-San, in Hawaii. Although Jeff became well known for his polyphonic solo guitar improvising, he also enjoyed performing in duet with other respected guitarists, including jazz legend Jim Hall in Europe and the Brazilian maestro Carlos Barbosa-Lima.

Jeff "paid his dues" as a performer in such remote outposts as Hawaii, the Caribbean, the South Pacific, and the Mediterranean, never once complaining about having to endure another summer in the South of France. Eventually he signed with Concord Records in 1988, releasing the classic CD "Up Late" that year. Of that popular recording, Jazzscene Magazine raved: "If, for some unfathomable reason, Latin-jazz has not yet gotten into your blood or touched your soul, then this is the album that will make you a believer!"

Jeff continued to compose in a Latin jazz style on his next project, Simpatico (GSPJAZ), which features former Weather Report members Alex Acuna on drums and Alphonso Johnson on bass. "Simpatico" was highly acclaimed as well, garnering a nomination for Contemporary Jazz Album of the Year from NAIRD. Although Jeff's next several CD's varied in style, from the more jazzy, improvised CD Solo (GSPJAZ), which was recognized as a Top Ten CD in Downbeat Magazine's Critics' Poll and was included in The 100 Greatest Jazz Albums of All Time, to the contemporary jazz/pop project, Passport to the Heart (Concord), Jeff is still perhaps best known as a Latin Jazz artist. He was even given the title of "Honorary Hispanic" by Latin Beat Magazine. The Mel Bay Folio and DVD, Jeff Linsky/Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Solos, significantly reinforces that perception, as it features Jeff's original music in performance with the noted percussionist Michael Spiro.

Over the past three decades, Jeff Linsky has performed in concert around the world and recorded several critically acclaimed CD's. His guitar is featured on many recordings for other musicians and composers, as well, and on several compilation albums for Concord Jazz. Also an award-winning composer, Jeff has written for film and television in the US and abroad.