Howard Alden
| Howard Alden | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 17, 1958 Newport Beach, California, United States |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Seven-string guitar, tenor banjo |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | Concord, Arbors Records |
| Website | howardalden |
Howard Alden (born October 17, 1958)[1] is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Howard Alden was born in Newport Beach, California in 1958. He began playing the 4-string tenor guitar and banjo at age ten. After hearing recordings of Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and other jazz guitar greats, he got a six-string guitar and started teaching himself to play that as well. As a teenager he played both instruments at various venues in the Los Angeles area.[2] He studied guitar with Jimmy Wyble when he was 16. In 1977–78 he studied jazz guitar at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood with Howard Roberts, where he eventually assisted Roberts in organizing and preparing his curriculum materials. Alden then conducted some of his own classes at GIT.[3]
Career
Alden made his first trip to the east coast in the summer of 1979, playing in a trio led by the legendary vibraphonist Red Norvo for three months at Resorts International in Atlantic City. Alden moved to New York City in 1982 to play an extended engagement at the Café Carlyle with jazz pianist/songwriter Joe Bushkin. Soon afterward, he was discovered by Joe Williams and Woody Herman. In 1983 he was already collaborating with Dick Hyman, when he appeared with him and a host of other musicians at Eubie Blake's one-hundredth birthday concert.[4] In 1988, Alden signed with the Concord Jazz record label and recorded many albums with them over the following fifteen years as a leader and sideman.
Personal life
Alden lives in Manhattan.[5] On January 10, 2015 he was married to Diane Carmen Garcia in San Marino, California.
Sweet and Lowdown
Alden recorded the guitar performances for Sean Penn's character Emmet Ray in Woody Allen's 1999 film Sweet and Lowdown, and taught Penn how to mime the performances for the film. The score also featured Bucky Pizzarelli on rhythm guitar and arrangements by pianist Dick Hyman.[6]
Awards
- 1990 – "Best Emerging Guitar Talent" poll winner in JazzTimes
- 1992 – "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" from Down Beat
- 1993 – "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" from Down Beat
- 1995 – "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" from Down Beat
- 1996 – "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" from Down Beat
- 2003 – "Guitar Player of the Year" – American Guitar Museum
- 2008 – Recognized as one of the "Top 75 Guitarists" by Down Beat
Discography
| Year | Album | Leader | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | "No Amps Allowed" | Howard Alden & Jack Lesberg | Chiaroscuro |
| 1986 | "Swing Street" | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 1988 | "Swinging into Prominence" | Howard Alden | Famous Door |
| 1988 | "Plays the Music of Harry Reser" | Howard Alden | Stomp Off |
| 1989 | "The Howard Alden Trio Plus Special Guests Ken Peplowski & Warren Vache" | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 1989 | "The ABQ Salutes Buck Clayton" | Howard Alden & Dan Barrett | Concord Jazz |
| 1990 | "Snowy Morning Blues" w/ Monty Alexander | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 1991 | "13 Strings" w/ George Van Eps | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 1991 | "Misterioso" | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 1991 | "Hand-Crafted Swing" | Howard Alden & George Van Eps | Concord Jazz |
| 1992 | "Good Likeness" | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 1993 | "Seven & Seven" | Howard Alden & George Van Eps | Concord Jazz |
| 1994 | "Keepin' Time" | Howard Alden & George Van Eps | Concord Jazz |
| 1994 | "Your Story: The Music of Bill Evans" | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 1994 | "Encore! Live at Centre Concord" | Howard Alden & Ken Peplowski | Concord Jazz |
| 1995 | "Concord Jazz guitar Collective" | Howard Alden, Frank Vignola & Jimmy Bruno | Concord Jazz |
| 1996 | "Take Your Pick" | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 2001 | "The Jazz KENnection" | Kenny Davern & Ken Peplowski | Arbors Records |
| 2001 | "Live in Belfast" | Frank Tate | Nagel-Heyer |
| 2002 | "My Shining Hour" | Howard Alden | Concord Jazz |
| 2003 | "In A Mellow Tone" | Howard Alden & Bucky Pizzarelli | Concord Jazz |
| 2004 | "Live In '95" | Howard Alden & Dan Barrett | Concord Jazz |
| 2005 | "Everything I Love" | Howard Alden & Dave Cliff | Zephyr Records |
| 2006 | "Howard Alden's UK 4 Live at Lewes" | Howard Alden | Woolf Notes |
| 2006 | "Maurice Hines: To Nat King Cole With Love" | Maurice Hines | Arbors Records |
| 2006-05-08 |
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Arbors Records |
| 2007 | "Howard Alden and Ken Peplowski's Pow-Wow" | Howard Alden and Ken Peplowski | Arbors Records |
| 2010 | "I Remember Django" | Howard Alden – featuring Anat Cohen & Warren Vaché | Arbors Records |
| 2013 | "Heavy Artillery" | Howard Alden – Andy Brown Quartet | Delmark Records 5008 |
| 2014 | "Guitar" | Howard Alden – Solo Seven-String Guitar | K2B2 Records 4469 |
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Howard Alden Official site
- Howard Alden at AllMusic
- New England Jazz History Database Audio Interview
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