Dave Stryker's Jazz Guitar Improvisation Method

Whether you’ve heard guitarist Dave Stryker fronting his own group (with 18 CD’s as a leader to date), or as a featured

sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany, you know why Gary Giddins in the Village

Voice calls him “one of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years.” He was voted one of the Top Ten

Guitarists in the 2001 Critics and Readers Poll and a Rising Star in the 2004 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll. His

approach combining the jazz burn to a soulful blues feeling is communicating to new fans wherever he plays.

Stryker grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and moved to New York City in 1980. After establishing himself in the local

music scene, he joined organist Jack McDuff’s group, travelling all over the U.S. for two years (1984-85). From

1986 to 1995, Stryker played with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, performing at all the major festivals, concert

halls, and clubs throughout the world. He is featured on two Turrentine CDs and with Stanley, Stryker was able

to play with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Freddie Hubbard. Over ten years playing alongside the tenor legend

helped Dave realize the importance of having his own sound.

Stryker recorded his first CD First Strike in 1988. Guitar on Top (1991) reached #13 on the Gavin Radio Chart and

received 4 1/2 stars in Downbeat magazine. Articles on Dave have appeared in Downbeat, Guitar Player, JazzTimes,

Swing Journal, and Jazz Life, and he has been awarded three Jazz grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 1990 Dave began his association with SteepleChase Music. Since them he has released 15 CD’s including

Strikezone, Passage, Blue Degrees, Full Moon, Stardust, Nomad (with the Bill Warfield Big Band), The Greeting, Blue to

the Bone I , II and III, Big Room, All the Way, Changing Times and Shades of Miles. Another recent project is Trio

Mundo - Carnaval on (Khaeon) with percussionist Manolo Badrena. Stryker’s most recent CD Blue to the Bone III was

voted one of the top CD’s of 2002 by NY/NJ Radio station WBGO and by Jazzreview. Shades Beyond featuring

drummer Lenny White is his 2004 release on SteepleChase, and “Big City” is his 2005 release on Mel Bay Records.

Early on Stryker realized that as much as he loved playing standards and the jazz repertoire he had to have something

of his own to give to the music. He feels that his writing combined with his playing is what shapes his musical

expression. He has recorded and published over eighty of his own compositions. Eighteen of those compositions

(from the first five SteepleChase CD’s) are compiled in the book: The Music of Dave Stryker (SteepleChase Music).

Some of the other artists who have recorded his music are: Stanley Turrentine, Kevin Mahogany, Victor Lewis and

Steve Slagle.

Dave continues to perform with his working unit The Stryker / Slagle Band as well as his other projects: The Blue to

the Bone Band, The Shades Project (w/ Lenny White), and his latest group Trio Mundo, featuring Manolo Badrena on

percussion and vocals and Andy McKee on bass. Recent gigs for The Stryker / Slagle Band have included the

Monterey Jazz Festival, The Blue Note in Las Vegas, The Jazz Bakery in LA, and a 2003 tour of Japan.

Recent sideman work has included vocalist Kevin Mahogany’s group, with Dave writing and arranging music for

Kevin's latest Telarc release Pride and Joy and Another Time, Another Place on Warner Bros, and tours of Europe,

Japan, Brazil, Poland and Carnegie Hall. He also has worked with Blue Note saxophonist Javon Jackson and pianist

Eliane Elias. He has appeared on over 40 CD's as a sideman.

As a producer, Stryker compiled the CD The Guitar Artistry of Billy Rogers which is the only existing record of the

brilliant jazz playing of the late underground legend who was his friend, former teacher and member of the

Crusaders. He has also produced A Tribute to Grant Green on Evidence Music and most recently produced Trio

Mundo and the upcoming Trio Mundo Rides Again (ZOHO Music). Dave is also involved in teaching both privately

and at Outreach Jazz Workshop in Austria, Litchfield Jazz Fest Summer Music School and the

Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop.