Telluride Jazz Celebration: Guitarist Jimmy Herring

31 May Telluride Jazz Celebration: Guitarist Jimmy Herring

[Click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Jimmy Herring]

Telluride Jazz, May 5-7. Sideman out front: Jimmy Herring

He has been the legend behind the legends, a musician's musician, but the 33rd annual Telluride Jazz Celebration, June 5 – June 7, will set the record straight. After three decades as a sideman, guitarist Jimmy Herring is finally getting exactly what he deserves: center stage.

Fusion guitarists that claim the middle ground generally skew one way or the other: former Telluride Jazz Celebration headliner John Scofield, for example, has deep roots in jazz,  and Carlos Santana is a rocker at heart. Jimmy is a rarity: he stakes his claim where jazz harmonies and rhythmic concepts and the edgy power of classic rock come together, improvising with an intensity that underlines his roots.

Jimmy's formidable chops have been used to great advantage by outfits ranging from Widespread Panic to the Dead, Phil Lesh and Friends (a Dead offshoot), Project Z, the Allman Brothers, Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz is Dead and others.

Last October, this uniquely gifted guitarist released his first solo album to great fanfare, titled somewhat cryptically, Lifeboat. (It is a good story about a happy moment in his parent's past.)

Jimmy and his all-star ensemble – Jeff Sipe on drums, Greg Osby on sax, Scott Kinsey on keyboards, and Oteil Burbridge on everything and bassist Matthew Garrison  –  plan to feature tracks from Lifeboat during his Telluride set, but also include sounds from influential records from the 1960s and 1970s ( the dead? Phil? Panic? ), all favorites of the catalogs of the individual band members.

To learn more about JImmy's illustrious career, his band and his Telluride appearance, press the "play" button on his podcast.

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