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ERICH
AVINGER was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on
November 16, 1956 and moved to Houston, Texas at
age four, where he grew up. His parents were both
musicians, father Thomas a composer and mother
JoAnn a singer and artist. Erich studied violin
and sang as a boy soprano in his father's church
choir, also singing the lead role in Menotti's
opera "Amahl and the Night Visitors" at
age eight.Surrounded from birth by the music of
Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Stravinsky, Bartok,
Prokifief and Shostakovitch, Erich was also
introduced at an early age to Broadway show tunes
and the jazz piano of Andre Previn and Bill
Evans. At age twelve Erich taught himself to play
guitar from recordings of Hendrix, Clapton, Beck
and Allman, performing and writing in local rock,
blues and psychedelic bands. He left home in 1969
to be involved with the higher conciousness and music scene at
that time, but was picked up by the police and returned to school.
In 1973 Erich was introduced to Brasilian composers Heitor Villa-Lobos,
Egberto Gismonti and Tom Jobim through recordings
brought from Brasil by a family friend, and began
improvising on piano and nylon-string classical
guitar. In 1976 he studied jazz guitar and piano,
arranging and composition for a year at Morehead
State University in Kentucky, afterwards
traveling with rock bands before returning to
pursue a career as a freelance rock, jazz and
studio guitarist in Houston.
In the 80s Erich worked with big bands, the
Houston Symphony Pops, Broadway roadshows, top 40, blues, rock,
country, jazz and R&B organ groups, and played on
numerous recording and jingle sessions at Huey
Meaux's Sugarhill Studios as well as teaching
jazz and rock guitar at several local colleges
and prisons. Following this period Erich took a
three year hiatus from performing music to study
Eastern and Western Mysticism and Healing Arts
before releasing his debut CD "Heart
Magic" in 1989.
After the release of his second CD "Si"
in 1990, Erich moved to Italy for a year where he performed in
Verona, Florence and Rome. After his return to the U.S. Erich
moved to Taos, New Mexico where he became immersed in Eastern
philosophy and music, studying Raga, Indian rhythms and also
learning performance of the rare and exquisite
sounding bansuri flute. Erich has performed and/or recorded at
this time with Krisna Das, Jai Uttal, Phil Hollenbeck, and the
group
"Taos" which he also produced and engineered.
Erich began his return to the guitar and Western
musical forms after moving back to Houston in 1995 and recording
an inspired live show in Austin, Texas which was released, along
with other tracks from New Mexico, as his third CD
"Poets, Misfits, Beggars and Shamans"
in 2000. During the years 1996 thru 2000 Erich also toured
with jazz trumpeter Gary Gazaway (a.k.a. "El
Buho"), playing with members of
Phish,Walfredo Reyes Jr., and Victor Wooten. Currently Erich
is living in Houston, Texas where he plays jazz gigs across the
state and has recorded a live CD with
jazz vocalist Kellye Gray
on which he is featured on his handmade archtop
and 10 string classical guitars. Erich is developing material
for a solo all-acoustic CD featuring his highly original improvisational
approach to the classical guitar and combining Jazz, Brasilian
and World Music influences.
Poets,
Misfits, Beggars and Shamans
If, as
said, "Writing about music is like dancing
about architecture,"- pity the poor scribe
who has only words to describe Erich
Avinger’s guitar wizardry after being
transported to an indescribable musical realm by
his performances.
A beautiful dance of opposites has produced one
extraordinary aural experience on
guitarist/composer Erich Avinger’s latest -
"Poets, Misfits, Beggars and Shamans."
Like Yin and Yang, two distinct sides of the
guitarist’s music have been captured in two very different
locales by dissimilar recording approaches.
Four songs, recorded in a New Mexico mountain
studio with percussion masters Phil Hollenbeck
and Ray Dillard, layer acoustic guitars, flute,
harmonica, violin and tamboura like beautifully
colored, translucent sheets of glass on which an
artist has interlaced swirls and filigree of
color, dynamics and design, with an achingly
expressive electric guitar as the paintbrush.
Four more songs were recorded live at
Austin’s Elephant Room with electric guitar
and bass, piano and drums. The beautiful melodies
at the heart of each song evolve as they build in
intensity to climax in exuberant jamming grooves
where jazz, blues and rock styles lose their
distinction and regain their joy.
Pianist Doug Hall’s Bill Evans-like
sensitivity lends exquisite support to
Avinger’s incredible range of expression.
Bassist Steve Zirkel and John Treanor
(percussion) are locked in perfect sympathy as
Avinger leads the charge from breathless whispers
into complex harmonies that soar into rocking
crescendos blazing with inspired fretwork.
On hearing his earlier recordings, music writers
packed glowing reviews of Avinger with references
to immortals like Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman and
Wes Montgomery – each an inspiration to the
guitarist. Likewise, living guitar legends like Eric Johnson,
Jeff Beck and Pat Metheny have been vital musical influences
for this
extraordinary musician. Classically trained, (his
father is composer Thomas Avinger) Erich Avinger
encountered Jimi Hendrix and John McLaughlin
early on the musical trail that led to Miles
Davis, Bill Evans and John Coltrane as Avinger
melded the influences and revelations of these
master improvisers into his own highly lyrical
style.
Years as a session musician able to work in
virtually any style with ease seems to have
endowed Avinger with a sort of cumulative wisdom;
as every influence, style and nuance seems to
have flowed into him as knowledge and back out as
music.
On first hearing, his music makes nearly everyone
ask, in tones of wonder, "Who is that? His
name is Erich Avinger,and he makes
music for the soul..
."An
impressive instrumentalist."
-
Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes
Magazine
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Quotes
"Moments
of easy octave leaps, scalar runs and singing
legato abandon...builds to a hair-raising
crescendo with Avinger unveiling his nastiest
grunge tones...an inpressive instrumentalist. -
Bill Milkowski, JazzTimes Magazine
"Avinger's
music blends elements of rock, jazz, andblues
into a real jam. Erich has a unique style, one
that clearly raises him to master level. He is up
there with guitar greats from the jazz, rock, and
blues world. Compared to JEFF BECK, ERIC JOHNSON, and PAT METHENY
already, you can add other greats like STEVIE RAY VAUGHN,
PHIL KEAGGEY, R. SMITH, C. SANTANA, and many other truly
great guitar
geniuses. 'Poets, Misfits, Beggars, and Shamans'
is a powerful product, one that presents inspired
jams, clean notes, and a personal style. Now if
only the mass public can get a taste of this
great talent. A great guitar based CD. Must
listening. Recommended. The
Critical Review
"bursting
style of solo rapture by providing chordal
flavorings and a progressive array of watercolor
chordal underpinnings... stirring tour de
force... an avalanche of electric guitar fire
power."
-- Gavin Magazine
"A very unique and personal sound, a melt of
different influences from jazz to rock, from
world music to flamenco, from new age to blues.
Avinger has excellent technique, but his concert
is not based on an easy spectacularity or
virtuosity as an end to themselves, but rather on
a continuous research of atmospheres, structures
and musical paths in which to find new solutions
and emotions... an artist gifted by great
intelligence and an absolutely personal
style."
-- La Republica (Rome, Italy)
"...without a doubt, one of the finest
guitar based albums that I have listened to
in a long time... brilliant."
-- Option Magazine
"If you’re adventurous and open to
innovative compositions, here’s someone to
take notice of... he’s going places"
-- L.A. Jazz Scene
"A shoo-in as winner of both the Best
Electric and Acoustic Guitarist awards"
-- Public News
"A gorgeous effort... Avinger is a master at
reworking melodic themes within a
song... Avinger’s songwriting is strong and
majestic... the most arresting music
around."
-- Houston Post
"An excellent synthesis of all that is the
guitar from a jigger of Django, a hint of
Hendrix, to moments of Metheny, all overlaid in
compositional counterpoint
worthy of the masters."
-- Kaleidophonics Syndication
"From the moment the album starts, Erich
makes you aware of his music prowess.
Weaving together intricate melodies on his
acoustic and electric guitars, he
captivates the listener."
-- Texas Music News
“Avinger is one of those rare artists who
creates his own art... extraordinary beauty in
the compositions that causes one to return again
and again... a genuine originality that
transcends style and pierces to the heart.”
-- Aaron Howard, Public News
To listen
to Erich Avinger: Erich Avinger Preview Page
Erich
Avinger toured with El Buho (trumpet w/ Phish),
Walfredo Reyes Jr.(drums w/ Santana), Victor
Wooten ( bass w/ Bela Fleck) and Mike WcAboy
(keyboards w/ Sting).
Erich Avinger is
working on redefining jazz standards with his classical
guitar with nylon
strings as well as his hollow body guitar. His
fluid playing incorporates finger style picking
of Michael Hedges, the harmonics of Lenny Breau
and the jazz sensibility of Jim Hall and Joe
Pass, while occasionally throwing in some Eastern
musical influences in the middle of a solo.
To find out
more about El Buho, please go to: http://www.elbuho.com or to read about jam bands like
El Buho, Phish, Allman Brothers, Medishi, Martin
and Wood and Galactic: http://www.anhonesttune.com
To listen
to Erich Avinger: Erich Avinger Preview Page
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