John F. Stowell (born July 30, 1950) 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, composer, author, and lecturer.

Biography

Stowell, who plays electric and acoustic guitar, was born in New York and raised in Connecticut. He had private studies with

Linc Chamberland Lionel Victor Chamberland (13 September 1940 – 24 June 1987) was an American jazz guitarist born and based in Norwalk, Connecticut. After playing with The Orchids in the 1960s, he stopped touring, became a private teacher, and performed regiona ...

and

John Mehegan John Francis Mehegan (June 6, 1916 – April 3, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, lecturer and critic. Early life Mehegan was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 6, 1916, although he sometimes gave the year as 1920. He began playing the vio ...

. Several years later he met bassist

David Friesen David Friesen (born May 6, 1942 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American jazz bassist. He plays double bass and electric upright bass. Career Friesen began playing bass while serving in the United States Army in Germany. He played with John Han ...

in New York City. Stowell took a trip to Portland, Oregon, where Friesen lives, and decided to stay. The two formed a duo in 1976 that recorded and toured prolifically for seven years, with performances in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. The duo continues to perform thirty years after their first meeting. In 1983, Stowell and David Friesen joined flutist Paul Horn and Paul's son Robin Horn (on drums) for a tour of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. In 1977 Stowell recorded his debut album ''Golden Delicious''; his sidemen were Jim McNeely, Mike Richmond, and Billy Hart Stowell teaches internationally. He has been an artist-in-residence at schools in Germany, Indonesia, Argentina, the United States and Canada. He served as assistant director and performer at Oregon Public Broadcasting's PDX Jazz Summit in 1991, and since 1995 has been a contributing columnist for a number of magazines, including ''

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 ...

'', ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and politica ...

'', '' Canadian Musician'', ''Soundcheck'' (Germany), and ''Guitar Club'' (Italy). In Germany, he teaches at Jazz & Rock Schulen Freiburg with Frank Haunschild, with whom he plays regularly. He has also worked with Uwe Kropinski,

Dave Liebman David Liebman (born September 4, 1946) is an American saxophonist, flautist and jazz educator. He is known for his innovative lines and use of atonality. He was a frequent collaborator with pianist Richie Beirach. In June 2010, he received ...

, Hiram Mutschler, Gérard Pansanel,

Gustavo Assis-Brasil Gustavo Assis-Brasil is a Brazilian-American guitarist. He is considered a pioneer in the study and development of the hybrid picking technique for guitar. In 2005, he released the book ''Hybrid Picking for Guitar''. Career In 1999 he received a ...

David Becker David Becker (born 20 October 1961) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the David Becker Tribune. He is also a graduate of the Musicians Institute. Career David and his brother Bruce (drummer) formed the David Becker Tribune and toured ...

, and Nicolao Valiensi. In 2005 he published ''Jazz Guitar Mastery'' (book and DVD). Stowell holds his guitar in a diagonal position, which facilitates playing close, piano-like voicings more comfortably.Origin
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Discography

* ''Golden Delicious'' (

Inner City The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

, 1977) * ''Through the Listening Glass'' with

(Inner City, 1978) * ''Other Mansions'' with David Friesen (Inner City, 1980) * ''Somewhere'' (Seraphon, 1995) * ''Picture in Black and White'' with Uwe Kropinski (Acoustic Music, 1997) * ''Elle'' (Jardis, 2000) * ''Scenes'' (

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

, 2001) * ''The Banff Sessions'' (Origin, 2002) * ''Listen to This'' with Frank Haunschild (Acoustic Music, 2004) * ''Resonance'' (Origin, 2005) * ''Solitary Tales'' (Origin, 2009) * ''Shot Through with Beauty'' with Michael Zilber (Origin, 2011) * ''New York Conversations'' with

Kendra Shank Kendra Shank is an American jazz vocalist. Career Shank's mother was an actress and playwright and her father was a playwright and teacher at the University of California. When she was five, she appeared onstage with her mother in ''Threepenny O ...

(TCB, 2013) * ''Italian Conversation'' with Michele Campobasso and Viz Maurogiovanni (Terramiamusic, 2014) * ''Anytime'' with Tomas Sauter (Catwalk, 2016) * ''Night Visitor'' with Ulf Bandgren (Origin, 2017) * ''Petite Fleur'' with

(Origin, 2018)

References

External links

Official site
*

Portrait at Origin Records

''Portland Jazz Festival'' 2005 at ''All About Jazz''

Excerpts from ''Jazz Guitar Mastery'' (2005) at Google BooksJohn Stowell Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stowell, John 1950 births American jazz composers American male jazz composers American jazz educators American jazz guitarists American male guitarists American music journalists Guitarists from Oregon Jazz writers Living people Musicians from Portland, Oregon 20th-century American guitarists Educators from Oregon 20th-century American male musicians Origin Records artists Inner City Records artists