ALAN JOSEPH
INFO
Colorado's own Alan Joseph is getting attention beyond the Rockies with his unique ensemble works that range far beyond the music normally associated with Jazz guitar headliners.
Alan's recording Heavy Water Music, was released to wide critical acclaim and he has appeared in Guitar Player, Guitar, and JAZZIZ magazines.
Listen to samples here;
http://www.allmusic.com/album/heavy-water-music-mw0000665607
When Colorado College NPR station KRCC named its top 10 albums a few years ago, Earl Klugh, the Crusaders and Harry Connick all made the list. Guess who was No.1? Alan Joseph, with his independently produced release Heavy Water Music . Joseph and his group received rave reviews in JAZZIZ and an article in Guitar Magazine refers to Joseph's playing as "like Pat Metheny, he also has a feel for new melodies that sound familiar. We're talking ear-candy here, the kind that always finds an audience." (John Stix; Guitar For The Practicing Musician)
A sampling of Alan’s performances include dates with Bernadette Peters, Maria Schneider, Dave Valentin, Diahann Carroll, Herb Ellis, Rich Chiaraluce, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Gene Bertoncini, Dale Bruning, Jerry Hahn, Ron Miles, Javon Jackson, Phil Urso, Sue Raney, Johnny Smith and more.
Listening to Alan, one can always expect to hear elements of "Straight Ahead" Jazz, Funk, Rhythm and Blues, and even some off-beat "Poetry Jazz" (which at one time involved placing microphones inside watermelons!). When performing you will hear musical selections from Jazz standards of the Swing, Bebop, and Cool periods to the current trend of contemporary Fusion, Original music and more.
Reviews:
"Another intriguing newcomer to the contemporary jazz scene is also a gifted, well-rounded composer who just happens to be a guitarist. ... Joseph's attraction to Pat Metheny and Weather Report is evident, yet he manages to lead these influences into some interesting territories of his own." (Linda Kohanov JAZZIZ)
"Alan plays with a sense of joy and freedom." Alan Joseph's ‘Heavy Water Music’ moves from clean, Holdsworthian Prog-Rock with stuttering, syncopated drums into airy Methenyesque dreamscapes. With layers of acoustic and electric textures, Alan's colorful arrangements demonstrate his great ear for orchestrating contrasting guitar tones." Guitar Player
As an instructor and lecturer of Jazz Guitar and Electric Bass for 37+ years, Alan seeks to find the relationship between the student and the expression of music, and is excellent at establishing the student’s own instrumental voice in the pursuit of the their artistic goals.
Alan is instructor of Jazz Guitar at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
