Peter Tripp Sprague (born October 11, 1955) 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 major ...

guitarist, record producer, and audio engineer. He owns SpragueLand Studios and the label SBE Records. He invented a twin-neck guitar with one neck from a classical guitar and one from a steel-string acoustic guitar. Sprague studied with guitarist

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

, Madame Chaloff, and classical guitarist Albin Czak, and has played with

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain", " 500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and ...

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 40 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop, and rhythm- ...

Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist. Early life Larry Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas, United States. He never knew his biological father, a musician. He w ...

, David Benoit, and

Sergio Mendes Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

. He has produced or played on more than 190 recordings. He has published music books, several of which are his transcriptions of his music, and has transcribed songbooks for Chick Corea. He composed and performed a guitar concerto with the Grossmont Symphony Orchestra in May 2000 and with the

San Diego Symphony The San Diego Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in San Diego, California. The orchestra is resident at Copley Symphony Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for the San Diego Opera. History On December 6th 1910, the ...

in May 2002, and performed a number of times at

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is part of Lincoln Center in New York City. The organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center in October 2004. Wynton Marsalis is the artistic director and the leader of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orches ...

in New York City. He has toured in Europe and Japan with vocalist

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

. Sprague has taught at the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

, and the jazz camp of

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

. In a 1984 review for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', jazz critic

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

called Sprague, "One of the emergent great guitarists."

Biography

Early years

Peter Sprague was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1955. His family moved frequently, settling in 1961 in

Del Mar Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "from the sea". It may refer to: Places in the United States * Del Mar, California * Del Mar High School, located in San Jose, California * Del Mar racetrack, located in Del Mar, California * Del Mar Fai ...

, California, where he fell in love with surfing. Although his parents were jazz fans, he was more interested in the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash when he picked up the guitar at age 12. Three years later, he paid more attention to his parents' jazz collection and began taking guitar lessons. He formed the Minor Jazz Quintet with his brother Tripp and three other musicians. He attended San Dieguito High School in Encinitas and

Interlochen Arts Academy Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City. In ...

in Michigan.

Career

In 1976, he moved to Boston to study with classical guitarist Albin Czak. He received some lessons from

, who he considers his hero. He returned home to Del Mar in 1978 and formed the Dance of the Universe Orchestra with Tripp, John Leftwich, Kelly Jacoy, and

Kevyn Lettau Kevyn Lettau (born 1959 in West Berlin, West Germany) is a vocalist whose most popular works are in the styles of adult contemporary pop, west coast fusion/smooth jazz, and Brazilian jazz. She scored success in the United States in the early 1990 ...

. They recorded the album ''You Make Me Want to Sing''. While recording with Charles McPherson on his album ''

Free Bop! ''Free Bop!'' is an album by saxophonist Charles McPherson which was recorded in 1978 and released on the Xanadu label.Xanadu, 1978), Sprague caught the attention of Xanadu Records, which offered him a four-album contract. Chick Corea invited him to play for a concert series during a holiday weekend at Disneyland. Corea praised Sprague's transcriptions of his Elektric Band. Sprague's affinity for Latin music led to a reunion with Kevyn Lettau and her husband, jazz percussionist Michael Shapiro. That led to Sprague's playing with

. In the late 1980s he joined pianist David Benoit's group, with whom over a three-year period he recorded two albums and toured extensively throughout the United States, the Philippines, and Japan. He married Stefanie Flory in 1991. When their daughter was born two years later, he left the Benoit band to stay closer to home. For some time he had been interested in composing, recording, and producing, and—inspired by Jimi Hendrix's (another of his heroes) Electric Lady Land Studios in Greenwich Village, New York—he created SpragueLand Studios, a recording and production studio at his home. Aside from his work, he records, engineers, and produces albums for musicians in several genres. In the Spring 2008 issue of ''The Ocean'' magazine, he said, "My wife and daughter keep me grounded. I wouldn't have that connection if I was constantly on the road or living in another city. Leucadia is my home. I love it here. I can walk down the street and in a matter of minutes be surfing excellent waves, come back home, shower, record excellent music, all the while fully enjoying my family, not missing a beat. How much does a person need? This does it for me." Peter Sprague (w twin-neck, by Michael Oletta)-6 11

Peter Sprague (w twin-neck, by Michael Oletta)-6 11

He plays in the band Blurring the Edges with his brother Tripp on saxophone and flute, and his father, Hall Sprague, on percussion. He has worked with pianist

Geoffrey Keezer Geoffrey Keezer (born November 20, 1970) is an American jazz pianist. Keezer was playing in jazz clubs as a teenager, playing piano for Art Blakey at age 18 and touring with Joshua Redman, Benny Golson and Ray Brown in his 20s. He has toured w ...

and vocalist

; with the

he performed his guitar concerto. He started the record label SBE, an acronym for "striving to break even". "'Our philosophy,' Sprague explains, 'goes like this: most of the time, people want to make a financial killing on their artistic endeavors. Most of the time, especially if it's "artistic", this won't ever happen. Just doing the project is loads of fun and our idea is to make enough dough to do it again. Aim low enough to break even and then free the mind of its turmoil so you can experience the process. Zen and the art of the record business.'" The Peter Sprague String Consort combines four string players (Bridgette Dolkas and Jeanne Skrocki on violin, Pam Jacobson on viola, and Lars Hoefs on cello) with himself on guitar along with frequent longtime collaborators Duncan Moore (drums) and Bob Magnusson (bass). For this group he has composed fusion pieces which combine elements of classical, jazz, and American folk, and released the album ''The Wild Blue'' (2009). In 2010 he won a Chamber Music America grant to compose a new major piece; he chose to compose it for the String Consort and completed it in 2011, titling it "Dr. Einstein's Spin." On December 2, 2011, the group gave its premiere performance in San Diego where local jazz critic Robert Bush rated it third among his top fifteen favorite concerts of the year. The same critic gave the album the top spot in the Top 10 SD Jazz Releases of 2013. His album ''Dream Walkin' '' (2015) with vocalist Leonard Patton was nominated for 2015 Best Jazz Album by San Diego Music Awards.

Teaching and writing

In 1985 Sprague accepted teaching positions at both the Musicians Institute (Hollywood) and the California Institute of the Arts (Los Angeles) and for three years taught students from all over the world. Connections at those schools landed him a two-year job where he would fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, play concerts for a couple of weeks, then teach at a music camp in Las Lenas. Compiling the material he'd created and accumulated for his teaching, he published a theory book, ''The Sprague Technique''. He then drew on the many transcriptions he'd made for himself over the years to publish several songbooks of both his own solos and the solos of some of his favorite other jazz musicians.

Awards and honors

Discography

As leader

* ''Dance of the Universe'' (Xanadu, 1979) * ''The Path'' (Xanadu, 1980) * ''The Message Sent On the Wind'' (Xanadu, 1982) * ''A Space Between Two Thoughts'' (SBE, 1982) * ''Bird Raga'' (Xanadu, 1983) * ''Musica del Mar'' (Concord Jazz, 1984) * ''Na Pali Coast'' (Concord Jazz, 1985) * ''Soliloquy'' (SBE, 1997) * ''The Light Dance'' (SBE, 2001) * ''Pass the Drum'' (SBE, 2003) * ''Friends for Life'' (SBE, 2004) * ''Taking It All In'' (SBE, 2005) * ''Plays Solo'' (SBE, 2008) * ''The Wild Blue'' (SBE, 2009) * ''Free Floating'' (SBE, 2010) * ''Mill Creek Road'' with

(SBE, 2011) * ''Calling Me Home'' (SBE, 2011) * ''Dr. Einstein's Spin'' (SBE, 2013) * ''Ocean in Your Eyes'' (SBE, 2014) * ''Dream Walkin'' (SBE, 2015) * ''Planet Cole Porter'' (SBE, 2017) * ''Lucy in the Sky'' (SBE, 2017) * ''Samba Andaluza'' (SBE, 2018) * ''Sparks and Seeds'' (SBE, 2018)

As sideman

With Checkfield * ''Spirit'' (Pausa, 1983) * ''Water, Wind, and Stone'' (American Gramaphone, 1986) * ''A View from the Edge'' (American Gramaphone, 1988) With

Denise Donatelli Denise Donatelli (born c. 1950) is an American jazz singer. Early life Donatelli was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania around 1950. She began playing piano at the age of three and studied classical piano for 15 years, winning first place awards i ...

* ''What Lies Within'' (Savant, 2008) * ''When Lights Are Low'' (Savant, 2010) * ''Soul Shadows'' (Savant, 2012) With

* ''Kevyn Lettau'' (Nova, 1989) * ''Brazil Jazz'' (JVC, 1990) * ''Another Season'' (JVC, 1993) With

Bob Magnusson Bob Magnusson (born February 24, 1947 in New York) is an American jazz bassist. Career Magnusson studied French horn for 12 years before switching to bass in 1967. He toured with Buddy Rich's Orchestra in 1968 and played with the San Diego Sympho ...

* ''Road Work Ahead'' (Discovery, 1980) * ''Two Generations of Music'' (Discovery, 1982) * ''Song for Janet Lee'' (Discovery, 1984) * ''Liquid Lines'' (SBE, 2006) With

Charlie Shoemake Charlie Shoemake (born July 27, 1937) is an American jazz vibraphonist. He played in George Shearing's Quintet for seven years, starting in 1967. He also played vibes on the soundtrack of the Clint Eastwood film ''Bird''. He is the director of th ...

* ''Crossroads'' (Discovery, 1982) * ''Plays the Music of David Raksin'' (Discovery, 1983) * ''I Think We're Almost There'' (Discovery, 1986) With others * Fred Benedetti & George Svoboda, ''Scirocco'' (SBE, 1995) * Fred Benedetti & George Svoboda, ''Zephyr'' (SBE, 1996) * David Benoit, ''Letter to Evan'' (GRP, 1992) * David Benoit, ''Shaken Not Stirred'' (GRP, 1994) *

Billy Childs William Edward Childs (born March 8, 1957) is an award-winning American composer, jazz pianist, arranger and conductor from Los Angeles, California, United States. Early life When he was sixteen he attended the Community School of the Performing ...

, ''I've Known Rivers'' (Stretch, 1994) *

Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Broo ...

, ''

Serendipity Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery. Serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery. Etymology The first noted use of "serendipity" was by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754. I ...

'' (Reference, 1986) *

Diane Hubka Diane Hubka is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. Career Hubka was born in Pleasantville, NY and took violin lessons at age 6–7, then trombone age 9, and guitar when she was eleven. She learned to play folk songs fingerstyle. In 1970, t ...

, ''West Coast Strings'' (SSG, 2013) *

, ''Aurea'' (ArtistShare, 2009) *

Matthew Lien Matthew Carl Lien ( ; born 10 May 1965) is a Canadian world music singer-songwriter and producer. His primary lyrical and musical focus is on environmental and cultural themes. Career During his childhood in San Diego, Lien would visit his fa ...

, ''Bleeding Wolves'' (Whispering Willow, 1995) *

Manzanita Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus ''Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to Or ...

, ''Pirate Lady'' (Award, 1979) *

Eric Marienthal Eric Marienthal (born December 19, 1957) is a Grammy Award-nominated Los Angeles-based contemporary saxophonist best known for his work in the jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, and pop genres. Early life Eric Marienthal was born on December 19, 1 ...

, ''One Touch'' (GRP, 1992) *

Bill Mays William Allen Mays (born February 5, 1944), known professionally as Bill Mays, is an American jazz pianist from Sacramento, California. Biography Mays came from a musical family and at the age of 15 became interested in jazz at an Earl Hines co ...

, ''Kaleidoscope'' (Jazz Alliance, 1992) * Charles McPherson, ''Free Bop!'' (Xanadu, 1979) * Dan Siegel, ''Future Prospect'' (Optimism, 1987) *

Warren Wiebe Warren Wiebe (July 18, 1953 – October 25, 1998) was an American vocalist and session artist from San Diego. Career After playing bass with several bands, Warren Wiebe was discovered by David Foster and Burt Bacharach in Los Angeles in 1987 ...

, ''Sings the Songs of Terry Sannita'' (SBE, 1992)

References

External links

Official site

Biographical article (August 16, 2012)
Peter Sprague Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprague, Peter 1955 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American jazz composers American jazz educators American jazz guitarists American male guitarists American male jazz composers Avant-garde jazz musicians Chamber jazz guitarists Guitarists from California Jazz fusion arrangers Jazz fusion guitarists Jazz musicians from California West Coast jazz guitarists