Woody Mann
Woody Mann is an American guitarist. Mann specializes in jazz, blues, and American roots music.
Biography
He was born in New York, where he first studied acoustic guitar with blues guitarist Reverend Gary Davis from 1968-72.[1] From 1973-78, Mann continued private lessons, focusing on improvisation with jazz pianist Lennie Tristano. Meanwhile, Mann received formal instruction at the Juilliard School’s pre-college program, then earned a Bachelor of Arts at Empire State College in 1974, and finally returned to Juilliard to pursue post-baccalaureate studies in music performance and composition from 1975-76. In these early years, Mann played with guitarists John Fahey, Bukka White, Son House, and Joann Kelly.[2]
Mann is a performer, recording artist, instructor, historian, film maker, and businessman. He has toured America, Europe, and Asia. He has performed fifteen times at the Great Britain International Guitar Festival where he is the USA Ambassador to the festival; the Worlds Fair Expo in Lisbon, Portugal; the International Guitar Festival in Tbilisi, the Republic of Georgia; and tours in Japan, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Europe.[3] He hosted and co-produced “On Patriots’ Stage,” concert series in Trenton, NJ, performed at the metropolitan museum as part of the “Guitar heroes" exhibition in 2011,[4] and plays clubs and festivals throughout the world. The CF Martin company has recently issued the Woody Mann signature guitar.[5]
Mann founded International Guitar Seminars, and Acoustic Sessions Inc., and has authored numerous books and DVDs, including “The Blues Fakeboook”, “Anthology of Blues Guitar”, “The Art of Blues guitar DVD series, “Lisboa”, the guitar of Woody Mann”, and the "Complete Blues Guitar Method". He has developed an innovative online guitar instruction site "woodymannguitarlessons.com[6] " and conducs the "Woody Mann Guitar Seminars" guitar master classes throughout the world. From 1981-2000, he was a faculty member at the New School in New York, teaching jazz improvisation, music theory, and acoustic blues and ragtime guitar. Mann has also taught at guitar workshops and camps in the USA and abroad, including Pugent Sound Guitar Workshop, Port Townsend Blues Festival, Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch, Internationale Workshop in Tuscany, the Universitat Hannover in Hannover, Germany.[7] He is a visiting artist at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1999, Mann established Acoustic Sessions, Inc., a corporation that works in music production for television and film production. He has worked as a consultant for Yazoo Records, RCA Records, acting as a historian and musicologist of early 20th century American music. Mann is the co-producer and musical supervisor on the feature documentary film “Harlem Street Singer,” the story of Reverend Gary Davis.[8] He is based in New York City and continues to tour, record and teach.
Discography
- Stories (1997)
- Stairwell Serenade (1998)
- When I've got the Moon (1999) with Susanne Vogt
- Heading Uptown (2000)
- Get Together (2002) with Bob Brozman
- Been Here and Gone (2003) with Son House and Jo Ann Kelly
- Together in Las Vegas (2004) with Orville Johnson and John Cephas
- Waltz For Joy 2005 with Susanne Vogt
- Road Trip (2005)
- First Takes (2009)
- Donna Lombarda (2009) with Duck Baker, Bob Brozman, Ed Gerhard, and Massimo Gatti
- Out of the Blue (2010) with Susanne Vogt
- Originals (2012)
- Tribute To The Reverend (2013)
- Empire Roots Band (2014) with Dave Keyes, Bill Sims Jr, Brian Glassman)
References
- ↑ Kaukonen, Jorma. "Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch". Woody Mann: The Blues of Reverend Gary Davis. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
- ↑ The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Woody Man". Interviews: Guitar Heroes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
- ↑ "On Patriots Stage: The Kaplan Series". Host: Woody Mann. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
- ↑ "The Metropolitan Museum of Art". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
- ↑ "The State Theater". The State Theater of New Jersey. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
- ↑ "Online Guitar LessonsWoody Mann Guitar Lessons | Online Guitar Lessons". Woody Mann Guitar Lessons. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ "Gig: Woody Mann – UK Tour 2009 –". Bluesinthenorthwest.com. 2009-08-22. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
- ↑ "The Reverend Gary Davis Story". Harlem Street Singer. 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2015-10-05.