Howard Vincent Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for

Concord Records Concord Records is an American record label owned by Concord and based in Los Angeles, California. Concord Records was launched in 1995 as an imprint designed to reach beyond the company's foundational Concord Jazz label. The label's artists have ...

, including four with seven-string guitar innovator

George Van Eps George Abel Van Eps (August 7, 1913 – November 29, 1998) was an American swing and mainstream jazz guitarist. Biography George Van Eps was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, United States, into a family of musicians. His three brothers – Fred ...

Early life

Howard Vincent Alden was born in Newport Beach, California, on October 17, 1958. He grew up in

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

, playing piano, harmonica, the four-string

tenor guitar The tenor guitar or four-string guitar is a slightly smaller, four-string relative of the steel-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar. The instrument was initially developed in its acoustic form by Gibson and C.F. Martin so that players of ...

, and then four-string banjo at age ten. After hearing recordings of Barney Kessel,

Charlie Christian Charles Henry Christian (July 29, 1916 – March 2, 1942) was an American swing and jazz guitarist. Christian was an important early performer on the electric guitar and a key figure in the development of bebop and cool jazz. He gained nat ...

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

, and other jazz guitar greats, he got a six-string guitar and started teaching himself to play. As a teenager he played both instruments at venues in the Los Angeles area. He studied guitar with

Jimmy Wyble James Otis Wyble (January 25, 1922 – January 16, 2010) was an American guitarist noted for his contributions to jazz and Western swing. Career A native of Port Arthur, Texas, Wyble worked in his early years for a radio station in Houston. He ...

when he was 16. In 1977–78 he studied jazz guitar at the Guitar Institute of Technology (

GIT Git () is a distributed version control system: tracking changes in any set of files, usually used for coordinating work among programmers collaboratively developing source code during software development. Its goals include speed, data in ...

) in Hollywood with Herb Ellis, Joe Pass, and

Howard Roberts Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician. Early years Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 - a ...

. At GIT he assisted Roberts in organizing and preparing curriculum materials. Alden then conducted some of his own classes at GIT.

Musical career

Alden made his first trip to the east coast in the summer of 1979, playing in a trio led by

vibraphonist The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

Red Norvo Red Norvo (born Kenneth Norville; March 31, 1908 – April 6, 1999) was an American musician, one of jazz's early vibraphonists, known as "Mr. Swing". He helped establish the xylophone, marimba, and vibraphone as jazz instruments. His reco ...

for three months at Resorts International in Atlantic City. He moved to New York City in 1982 to play an extended engagement at the Café Carlyle with jazz pianist/songwriter

Joe Bushkin Joe Bushkin (November 7, 1916 – November 3, 2004) was an American jazz pianist. Life and career Born in New York City, Bushkin began his career by playing trumpet and piano with New York City dance bands, including Frank LaMare's Band a ...

. Soon afterwards, he was discovered by Joe Williams and

Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...

. In 1983 he was already collaborating with Dick Hyman, when he appeared with him and a host of other musicians at

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, he and his long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote '' Shuffle Along'', one of the first B ...

's one-hundredth birthday concert. Alden formed the Alden-Barrett Quintet in 1985 with Dan Barrett, which played in the swing idiom, as he has done for most of his career. He also began partnerships with

Ruby Braff Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong". Braff ...

Kenny Davern John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from ...

and Jack Lesberg. He joined

, innovator of the seven-string guitar, on tour and recorded albums with him, switching to the seven-string himself in 1992.

''Sweet and Lowdown''

Alden recorded the guitar performances for

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...

's character Emmet Ray in

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

's 1999 film ''

Sweet and Lowdown ''Sweet and Lowdown'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama mockumentary film written and directed by Woody Allen. Loosely based on Federico Fellini's film ''La Strada'', the film tells the fictional story, set in the 1930s, of self-confident jazz g ...

'', and taught Penn how to mime the performances for the film. The score also featured

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He was the father of jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and double bassist Martin Pizzarelli. He worked for NBC as a staffman for Dick Cavett (1971) ...

on rhythm guitar and arrangements by pianist Dick Hyman.

Awards

* Best Emerging Guitar Talent, ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growt ...

'' (1990) * Talent Deserving Wider Recognition, ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996) * Guitar Player of the Year, American Guitar Museum (2003) * Top 75 Guitarists, ''Down Beat'' (2008)

Discography

As leader

* ''Swing Street'' with Dan Barrett (Concord Jazz, 1988) * ''Swinging into Prominence'' with Norris Turney, Jake Hanna (Famous Door, 1988) * ''No Amps Allowed'' with Jack Lesberg (

Chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

, 1988) * ''The Howard Alden Trio Plus Special Guests Ken Peplowski & Warren Vache'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) * ''The ABQ Salutes Buck Clayton'' with Dan Barrett (Concord Jazz, 1989) * ''Plays the Music of Harry Reser'' with Dick Hyman ( Stomp Off, 1989) * ''Snowy Morning Blues'' (Concord Jazz, 1990) * ''13 Strings'' with

(Concord Jazz, 1991) * ''Misterioso'' (Concord Jazz, 1991) * ''Hand-Crafted Swing'' with George Van Eps (Concord Jazz, 1992) * ''Ken Peplowski and Howard Alden'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''Seven and Seven'' with George Van Eps (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''A Good Likeness'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''Your Story: The Music of Bill Evans'' with Frank Wess (Concord Jazz, 1994) * ''Encore'' with Ken Peplowski (Concord Jazz, 1995) * ''Concord Jazz Guitar Collective'' with Frank Vignola, Jimmy Bruno (Concord Jazz, 1995) * ''Keepin' Time'' with George Van Eps (Concord Jazz, 1996) * ''Take Your Pick'' (Concord Jazz, 1997) * ''Full Circle'' with Jimmy Bruno, Joe Pass, Ray Brown (Concord 1998) * ''Love'' with Terrie Richards Alden (Nagel-Heyer, 2001) * ''My Shining Hour'' (Concord Jazz, 2002) * ''Soulmates'' with Butch Miles (Nagel-Heyer, 2002) * ''In a Mellow Tone'' with Bucky Pizzarelli (Concord Jazz, 2003) * ''Live in '95'' with Dan Barrett (Arbors, 2004) * ''Live at Lewes'' with Geoff Simkins, Simon Woolf, Steve Brown (Woolfnotes, 2006) * ''Pow-Wow'' with Ken Peplowski (Arbors, 2008) * ''I Remember Django'' (Arbors, 2010) * ''A Splendid Trio'' with Scott Hamilton, Frank Tate (Arbors, 2011) * ''Solo Guitar'' (K2B2, 2014) * ''The Happenings: Music of Herbie Nichols'' with Marty Krystall, Buell Neidlinger (K2B2, 2017)

As sideman or guest

With

* ''Me, Myself and I'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) * ''Bravura Eloquence'' (Concord Jazz, 1990) * ''Volume One'' (Concord Jazz, 1991) * ''Volume Two'' (Concord Jazz, 1992) * ''Cornet Chop Suey'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) * ''As Time Goes By...'' (Candid, 1997) * ''Braff Plays Wimbledon: First Set'' (Zephyr, 1997) * ''Braff Plays Wimbledon: The Second Set'' (Zephyr, 1998) * ''The Concord Jazz Heritage Series'' (Concord Jazz, 1998) * ''Born to Play'' (Arbors, 1999) * ''Watch What Happens'' (Arbors, 2002) With

* ''One Hour Tonight'' (Musicmasters, 1988) * ''I'll See You in My Dreams'' (Musicmasters, 1989) * ''Breezin' Along'' (Arbors, 1997) * '' The Jazz KENNection'' (Arbors, 2001) With Barbara Lea * ''Hoagy's Children: Songs of Hoagy Carmichael Volume One'' (Audiophile, 1994) * ''Hoagy's Children: Songs of Hoagy Carmichael Volume Two'' (Audiophile, 1994) * ''Stardust Melody/Beloved and Rare Songs of Hoagy Carmichael'' (A Records, 2001) With

Susannah McCorkle Susannah McCorkle (January 1, 1946 – May 19, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Life and career A native of Berkeley, California, McCorkle studied Italian literature at the University of California at Berkeley before dropping out to move to ...

* ''I'll Take Romance'' (Concord Jazz, 1992) * ''From Bessie to Brazil'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''Easy to Love: The Songs of Cole Porter'' (Concord Jazz, 1996) * ''Someone to Watch Over Me: The Songs of George Gershwin'' (Concord Jazz, 1998) With Ken Peplowski * ''Sonny Side'' (Concord Jazz, 1989) * ''Illuminations'' (Concord Jazz, 1991) * ''Steppin' with Peps'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * ''Live at Ambassador Auditorium'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) * ''It's a Lonesome Old Town'' (Concord Jazz, 1995) * ''Grenadilla'' (Concord Jazz, 1998) * ''Gypsy Lamento'' (Venus, 2008) With

Flip Phillips Joseph Edward Filippelli (March 26, 1915 – August 17, 2001), known professionally as Flip Phillips, was an American jazz tenor saxophone and clarinet player. He is best remembered for his work with Norman Granz's Jazz at the Philharmonic conce ...

* ''A Real Swinger'' (Concord Jazz, 1988) * ''Try a Little Tenderness'' (Chiaroscuro, 1993) * ''Swing Is the Thing'' (Verve, 2000) * ''Celebrates His 80th Birthday at the March of Jazz 1995'' (Arbors, 2003) With

* ''A Portrait'' (Stash, 1992) * ''Stringin' the Blues: A Tribute to Eddie Lang'' with Frank Vignola, Al Viola, Marty Grosz (Jazzology, 2003) * ''Hot Club of 52nd Street'' with Johnny Frigo (Chesky, 2004) With Randy Sandke * ''Calling All Cats'' (Concord Jazz, 1996) * ''The Re-discovered Louis and Bix'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2000) * ''The Music of Bob Haggart'' (Arbors, 2002) * ''Unconventional Wisdom'' (Arbors, 2008) With

Bobby Short Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist, who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...

* ''Swing That Music'' (Telarc, 1993) * ''How's Your Romance?'' (Telarc, 1999) * ''You're the Top: Love Songs of Cole Porter'' (Telarc, 1999) With Warren Vaché Jr. * ''Easy Going'' (Concord Jazz, 1987) * ''Talk to Me Baby'' (Muse, 1996) * ''Mrs. Vache's Boys'' (Nagel-Heyer, 1999) With others * Harry Allen, ''I'll Never Be the Same'' (Master Mix, 1994) * Harry Allen, ''Love Songs Live!'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2000) *

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

, ''Steve Allen Plays Jazz Tonight'' (Concord Jazz, 1993) * Karrin Allyson, Scott Hamilton, Concord Jazz, Festival All-Stars, ''Fujitsu-Concord 27th Jazz Festival'' (Concord 1996) * Dan Barrett, ''Strictly Instrumental'' (Concord Jazz, 1987) *

, ''Play It Again, Joe'' (United Artists 1977) * Charlie Byrd, ''The Washington Guitar Quintet'' (Concord Jazz, 1992) * Judy Carmichael, ''Pearls'' (Jazzology, 1991) *

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

, ''In the Mood for Swing'' (Musicmasters, 1988) * Dave Cliff, ''When Lights Are Low'' (Zephyr, 1998) * Scott Hamilton, Ken Peplowski, ''Groovin' High'' (Concord Jazz, 1992) * Milt Hinton, ''The Basement Tapes'' (Chiaroscuro, 1989) * Dick Hyman, ''Cheek to Cheek'' (Arbors, 1996) *

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and background Kenn ...

, ''Kennedy Meets Gershwin'' (Warner Classics 2018) * Butch Miles, ''More Miles... More Standards'' (Famous Door, 1985) * Butch Miles, ''Cookin' '' (Nagel-Heyer, 1995) * Doug Munro, ''The Harry Warren Songbook'' (GotMusic,) *

Mel Powell Mel Powell (born Melvin Epstein) (February 12, 1923 – April 24, 1998) was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, and the founding dean of the music department at the California Institute of the Arts. He served as a music educator for over ...

, ''The Return of Mel Powel'' (Chiaroscuro, 1989) *

Leon Redbone Leon Redbone (born Dickran Gobalian; August 26, 1949 – May 30, 2019) was a singer-songwriter and musician specializing in jazz, blues, and Tin Pan Alley classics. Recognized by his hat (often a Panama hat), dark sunglasses, and black tie, Re ...

, ''Red to Blue'' (August, 1985) * Mavis Rivers, ''It's a Good Day'' ((Delos,) 1984) * Norman Simmons, ''13th Moon'' (Milljac 1991) * Andy Stein, ''Goin' Places'' (Stomp Off, 1987) *

Loren Schoenberg Loren Schoenberg (born July 23, 1958) is a tenor saxophonist, conductor, educator, and jazz historian. He has won two Grammy Awards for Best Album Notes. He is the former Executive Director and currently Senior Scholar of the National Jazz Museum ...

, ''Solid Ground'' (Musicmasters, 1988) * Carol Sloane, ''When I Look in Your Eyes'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) * Richard Stoltzman, ''the Essential Clarinet'' (RCA Victor 1992) * Howard Shore, ''The Aviator'' (Decca/UMG, 2004) * Tom Talbert, ''This Is Living!'' (Pipe Dream Chartmaker 1997) * Frank Tate, ''Live in Belfast'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2001) *

Mel Torme Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

, ''A Tribute to Bing Crosby'' (Concord Jazz, 1994) *

Allan Vache Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) (A ...

, Jim Galloway, ''Raisin' the Roof'' (Nagel-Heyer, 2000) * Terry Waldo, ''Footlight Varieties'' (Stomp Off, 1990) *

George Wein George Wein (October 3, 1925 – September 13, 2021) was an American jazz promoter, pianist, and producer.

, ''Swing That Music'' (Columbia, 1993) * Bob Wilber, ''Bufadora Blow-up'' (Arbors, 1997) * Chuck Wilson, ''Echo of Spring'' (Arbors, 2010) * Lillette Jenkins &

Doc Cheatham Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, better known as Doc Cheatham (June 13, 1905 – June 2, 1997), was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He is also the Grandfather of musician Theo Croker. Early life Doc Cheatham was born in Nashv ...

, ''The Music of Lil Hardin Armstrong'' (Chiaroscuro, 1988)

References

External links

Official site
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alden, Howard 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Swing guitarists Mainstream jazz guitarists American jazz guitarists Seven-string guitarists 1958 births Living people Musicians Institute alumni Chesky Records artists American male guitarists Musicians from Newport Beach, California American jazz banjoists Jazz musicians from California Guitarists from California 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Stomp Off artists Arbors Records artists Concord Records artists Chiaroscuro Records artists Nagel-Heyer Records artists