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Howard Alden

"He may be the best of his generation," writes Owen Cordle in JazzTimes. George Kanzler of the Newark Star Ledger proclaims that he is "the most impressive and creative member of a new generation of jazz guitarists." And Chip Deffaa of the New York Post observes that he is "...one of the very finest young guitarists working today." It seems that the only thing regarding Howard Alden on which the critics have debate is whether the remarkable jazz guitarist is one of the best or simply the best. Born in Newport Beach, California, in 1958, Howard began playing at age ten, inspired by recordings of Armstrong, Basie and Goodman, as well as those by guitarists Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and George Van Eps. Soon he was working professionally around Los Angeles playing in groups ranging from traditional to mainstream to modern jazz. In 1979, Alden went east, for a summer in Atlantic City with Red Norvo, and continued to perform with him frequently for several years. Upon moving to New York City in 1982, Alden's skills, both as soloist and accompanist, were quickly recognized and sought-out for appearances and recordings with such artists as Joe Bushkin, Ruby Braff, Joe Williams, Warren Vache` and Woody Herman. He has continued to win accolades from critics and musicians alike, adding Benny Carter, Flip Phillips, Mel Powell, Bud Freeman, Kenny Davern, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie and George Van Eps, as well as notable contemporaries such as Scott Hamilton and Ken Peplowski to his list of impressive credits. Howard Alden has been a Concord Jazz recording artist since the late '80s where his prolific recorded output as leader, co-leader, and versatile sideman, has captured an artist of consistently astonishing virtuosity and originality. One of the many highlights in Howard Alden's fruitful association with Concord Jazz came in 1991 when, at the urging of Concord President, Carl Jefferson, Alden recorded with one of his all-time heroes, seven-string guitar master George Van Eps on the album Thirteen Strings . As a result of his associating with - and inspiration from - George Van Eps, Alden has been playing the seven-string guitar exclusively since 1992. The seven string guitar imparts a greater range and harmonic richness to Alden's already colorful tonal palette, as evidenced on three remarkable follow-up albums with Van Eps, his critically acclaimed duo recordings with saxophonist/clarinetist Ken Peplowski, and the stunning interplay between Alden and special guest Frank Wess on Your Story - The Music of Bill Evans .

Alden also teamed up with fellow guitarists Jimmy Bruno and Frank Vignola to record a three guitar outing entitled The Concord Jazz Guitar Collective , which was quickly called by some critics "an instant classic!" Alden's recording from 1996 Take Your Pick serves to underline Howard's wide scope of knowledge of jazz literature. Thoughout the disc, one is amazed at how skillfully Alden delivers interpretations with fresh surprises. Michael Moore, Bill Goodwin, Lew Tabackin, and Renee Rosnes combine with Alden to bring exciting interplay and thrills around every corner to the ten standard and lesser known gems hand picked for this recording. Released in honor of Concord's 25th anniversary was a duo recording with Jimmy Bruno, Full Circle teamed with the very first Concord recording Jazz/ Concord featuring Herb Ellis and Joe Pass. Howard can be heard on the soundtrack to the 1999 Woody Allen movie "Sweet and Lowdown", starring Sean Penn, who was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role as a legendary jazz guitarist in the '30s. Howard not only played all the guitar solos, but also coached Mr. Penn on playing the guitar for his role in the film. The London Observer has this to say about Alden's new solo CD, My Shining Hour ; "If there is such a thing as a complete jazz guitarist, then Alden is it. Only a real virtuoso can sustain a whole CD of solo guitar with the aplomb he displays here." In 2004 Howard was the guitarist(and musical director) chosen for an all-star line-up commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival, touring 50 cities of the United States in addition to their appearance at the Newport Festival. The 2005-2006 season saw Howard adding his acoustic guitar voice to violinist Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing on his national concert tour. Howard Alden was voted "Best Emerging Talent-Guitar" in the first annual JazzTimes critics' poll, 1990, and "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in the 1996, 1992, 1993 and 1995 Downbeat critics' poll. As jazz critic Wayne Thompson writes simply, in Jazzscene, "If there are better young jazz guitar players in America than Howard Alden, I have yet to hear them." Howard's growing base of loyal fans couldn't agree more.

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The Bix Centennial All-Stars: Celebrating Bix!

Read "Celebrating Bix!" reviewed by Nicholas F. Mondello

by Nicholas F. Mondello
September 21, 2023

Cornetist Leon Bismark “Bix" Beiderbecke, while certainly heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, developed his own highly stylized way of playing and improvising jazz. One wonders what musical highlights might have been accomplished had he lived beyond his 28 years. Celebrating Bix!, originally released in 2003 as a single CD album, adds selections which, due to size constraints, did not make the original release, but they all certainly “make it" here as a double CD and vinyl release. What ...

Album Review

The Bix Centennial All Stars: Celebrating Bix!

Read "Celebrating Bix!" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 14, 2023

Here's a new album by the Bix Centennial All Stars honoring the legacy of the renowned cornetist Bix Beiderbecke. Sort of. Actually, most of the music on Celebrating Bix! was recorded and released in March 2003, the actual centenary of Beiderbecke's birth in Davenport, Iowa. This expanded twentieth anniversary edition includes a trio of songs not released at that time owing to limited space, and has been reissued on two CDs instead of one. Having said that, ...

Album Review

Howard Alden - Andy Brown: Heavy Artillery

Read "Heavy Artillery" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
May 14, 2014

Chi cerca indicazioni sulle nuove tendenze della chitarra jazz può anche cambiare pagina ma se volete deliziarvi con dell'ottimo straight-ahead jazz questo è il disco che fa per voi. La musica sa infatti coniugare perizia tecnica, feeling, gusto melodico, intenso drive e fantasia interpretativa. Protagonista dell'opera è un quartetto guidato da due chitarristi di generazioni diverse ma sostanzialmente affini nell'estetica, che richiama maestri come Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel e George van Eps: il 56enne Howard Alden e ...

188

Album Review

Howard Alden / Ken Peplowski: Pow-Wow

by Andrew Velez
December 16, 2007

Whether you were fortunate enough or not to have caught Howard Alden and Ken Peplowski's 2007 reunion art New York's Bargemusic, Pow-Wow will do very nicely to dig these longtime musical good companions. Much of the Barge evening drew upon Pow-Wow, offering a perfect, quietly spectacular skyline setting for these two, both who eschew pyrotechnics. Their playing is exciting enough in its simplicity. Hearing their variety, range and richness can make it seem like listening to more than just two ...

287

Album Review

Howard Alden/Bucky Pizzarelli: In a Mellow Tone

Read "In a Mellow Tone" reviewed by Mitchell Seidel

by Mitchell Seidel
July 25, 2004

Good taste never goes out of style and knows no demographic, as this delicate album by two masters of the seven-string demonstrates. The 45-year old Alden and the 77-year old Pizzarelli may be a generation apart, but they are certainly cut from the same cloth.

A great example of how their comping and strumming styles mesh so effortlessly is heard on “Tangerine," where they trade back and forth like one guitarist overdubbed on two tracks. “Cherokee" starts with a tom-tom-inspired ...

194

Album Review

The Bix Beiderbecke Centennial All-Stars: Celebrating Bix!

by Jack Bowers
May 3, 2003

Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke, who considered himself a failure and died (primarily from alcohol abuse) in 1931 at age twenty-eight, would no doubt have been astonished to learn that a group of world- class musicians was assembling to record an album celebrating the hundredth anniversary of his birth. But if Bix was unable to recognize his own genius, others were--and now, seventy-two years onward, he rests comfortably in the pantheon raised to honor such legendary jazz pioneers as Louis Armstrong, King ...

127

Album Review

Howard Alden: My Shining Hour

Read "My Shining Hour" reviewed by Dave Nathan

by Dave Nathan
July 1, 2002

There is a small, select group of contemporary jazz musicians who when they release a new album, the question is not whether it's going to be good but rather, “how good". Guitarist Howard Alden falls four square into this community of consummate jazz artists and his position in the group is further solidified by his latest from Concord Jazz, My Shining Hour. Playing the both the electric and acoustic 7 string archtop guitar, Alden gets a fullness, a richness of ...

Radio

Guitarists Marty Grosz And Howard Alden This Week On Riverwalk Jazz

Source: Don Mopsick
April 10, 2014

This week on Riverwalk Jazz, two contemporary giants of jazz guitar, Marty Grosz and Howard Alden, join The Jim Cullum Jazz Band for a show devoted to pioneers of jazz guitar: Lonnie Johnson, Eddie Lang, Carl Kress, Dick McDonough and Django Reinhardt. The program is distributed in the US by Public Radio International. You can also drop in on a continuous stream of shows at the Stanford Archive of Recorded Sound. Recognized by Down Beat in 2008 as one of ...
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Performance / Tour

The Art of the Jazz Duo - Playing Alone Together

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
April 7, 2014

Guitarist Howard Alden and pianist Lenore Raphael blended their considerable talents Friday night in a South County Jazz Club concert that concluded its 2013-14 season segment at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center in Sarasota. The New York-based players dug deeply into Great American Songbook standards, and a gritty take on Hoagy Carmichael's “Georgia On My Mind," before concluding their 90-minute performance with a Raphael original. The latter was her Oscar Peterson tribute, “Blues for O.P." The evening underscored the players musical ...
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Performance / Tour

Lenore Raphael On Tour In California With Howard Alden

Source: Lenore Raphael
February 14, 2013

Pianist Lenore Raphael celebrates her recording Loverly with guitarist Howard Alden with a tour of Southern California. Starting on Thursday, February 21. they appear at The Merc for jazz adding bassist Jim De Julio to the performance. The Merc is located on Main Street, Temecula California. On Sunday, February 24th, the duo join the steady rhythm section at Vicky's of Sante Fe in Palm Springs. Vicky's is located at 45-100 Highway 111. Joining in with Larry Holloway on bass, Allen ...
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126

Event

Seven Jazz Leeds May 2011 programme

Source: JazzLeeds
April 21, 2011

Its May, its summertime in Leeds. Celebrate the royal nuptials with some great jazz at Seven Arts Chapel Allerton Leeds UK during May. This coming Thursday 28th April we feature American guitarist Howard Alden with his trio, in concert with New York jazz vocalist Jeanne Gies. Later in May we have an evening with a jazz supergroup including Alan Barnes, Mark Edwards, Jeremy Price, Tony Kofi, Clark Tracey and bassman Arnie Somogyi, performing the music of jazz bassist Charles Mingus. ...
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283

Radio

Howard Alden, Marty Grosz on Riverwalk Jazz This Week

Source: Don Mopsick
December 20, 2010

This week on Riverwalk Jazz, two contemporary giants of jazz guitar, Marty Grosz and Howard Alden, join The Jim Cullum Jazz Band at The Landing in San Antonio for a show devoted to a trio of early jazz guitarists—Lonnie Johnson, Eddie Lang and Carl Kress. The show is distributed nationwide by Public Radio International and XM/Sirius sattelite radio, and can be streamed from the Riverwalk Jazz website beginning today. Recognized by Down Beat Magazine in 2008 as one of 75 ...
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130

Interview

Jazz Guitarist Howard Alden Reflects on the Life of Les Paul

Source: Michael Ricci
August 14, 2009

Today, in New York, at White Plains Hospital, guitar legend, Les Paul died of complications from pneumonia. He was 94 years old. Aside from having what any of us would consider to be a good run in the longevity department, Les Paul also realized great quality of life achievements within the quantity of his years. Since the birth of rock and roll, every kid with a dream wanted to own a Gibson Les Paul guitar; the six-string electric named for ...
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134

Performance / Tour

The New Guitar Summit feat. J. Geils, Howard Alden, Gerry Beaudoin at Iridium Nov. 17-21

Source: All About Jazz
November 16, 2004

IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY (Corner of 51st) NEW YORK, NY 10019 RESERVATIONS: 212-582-2121, www.iridiumjazzclub.com

SHOW TIMES NIGHTLY AT 8:00, 10:00 Nov. 17-21 THE NEW GUITAR SUMMIT FEATURING J. GEILS, HOWARD ALDEN, GERRY BEAUDOIN

New England has always had an affinity for guitar players. In recent memory three of the finest are Gerry Beaudoin, Jay Geils and Howard Alden. The three all have solid careers of their own with a ...
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Performance / Tour

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