Rez Abbasi (born August 27, 1965) is a Pakistan-born American jazz guitarist, composer, and record producer based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Biography

Abbasi was born in Karachi, Pakistan. When he was four, his family moved to Los Angeles, and at eleven he started learning guitar. He spent his early teens playing in rock bands. Inspired at a concert featuring vocalist

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and guitarist

Joe Pass Joe Pass (born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua; January 13, 1929 – May 23, 1994) was an American jazz guitarist. Pass is well known for his work stemming from numerous collaborations with pianist Oscar Peterson and vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, an ...

, he began to pursue jazz and classical music. Abbasi studied guitar at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

and at the Manhattan School of Music. After graduating in 1989, he spent a couple months in India studying

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

with

Alla Rakha Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialized in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and ...

, which kindled an interest in the music of India and Pakistan. He traveled to India to study under master

player

Ustad Alla Rakha Ustad Alla Rakha Qureshi (29 April 1919 – 3 February 2000), popularly known as Alla Rakha, was an Indian tabla player who specialized in Hindustani classical music. He was a frequent accompanist of sitar player Pandit Ravi Shankar and wa ...

, to develop an East-West fusion style.Cleveland, Barry, "Pakistani-born guitarist and composer Rez Abbasi is in many ways the embodiment of East-West fusion"
''

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 ...

'', Jan 31, 2011 (updated Nov 15, 2017) However, as he told ''Guitar Player'' magazine, "I’ve never studied the

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

or the

sarod The sarod is a stringed instrument, used in Hindustani music on the Indian subcontinent. Along with the sitar, it is among the most popular and prominent instruments. It is known for a deep, weighty, introspective sound, in contrast with the sweet ...

because to really learn to play either of them I would have had to give up everything else. So, I learned some of the techniques on what you might call a jazz street level. ... have been influenced by rock and roll and jazz and other music since I was a kid." He has been a member of the Indo-Pak Coalition and Dakshani, two groups led by saxophonist

Rudresh Mahanthappa Rudresh Mahanthappa (born May 4, 1971) is a New York-based jazz alto saxophonist and composer. Biography Mahanthappa is the son of Indian emigrants to the U.S. He was born in Trieste, Italy as a result of his father's job in academia, but spent ...

, and has played and arranged for singer

Kiran Ahluwalia Kiran Ahluwalia is a Canadian singer, songwriter who infuses African desert blues and Western musical styles. Kiran Ahluwalia won the 'Newcomer' category in the inaugural Songlines Music Awards (2009) – announced 1 May 2009 – the new 'world m ...

. He has also worked with Billy Hart, D. D. Jackson,

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 ...

, Dave Pietro, Gary Thomas, Gary Versace,

Kenny Werner Kenny Werner (born November 19, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1951 and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Werner began playing and performing at a young ...

Marvin Smith Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer. Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musica ...

, Rick Margitza, Sunny Jain, Tim Hagans, and

Tony Malaby Tony Malaby (born January 12, 1964) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Malaby was born in Tucson, Arizona. He moved to New York City in 1995 and played with several notable jazz groups, including Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, ...

Discography

As leader

* ''Rez Abbasi'' (Self-released, 1993) * ''Third Ear'' (Cathexis, 1995) * ''Modern Memory'' (Cathexis, 1998) * ''Out of Body'' (String Jazz, 2002) * ''Snake Charmer'' (Earth Sounds, 2005) * ''Bazaar'' (Zoho, 2006) * '' Things to Come'' (Sunnyside, 2009) * ''Natural Selection'' (Sunnyside, 2010) * ''Suno Suno'' (Enja, 2011) * ''Continuous Beat'' (Enja, 2012) * ''Behind the Vibration'' (Cuneiform, 2016) * ''Unfiltered Universe'' (Whirlwind, 2017) * ''A Throw of Dice'' (Whirlwind, 2019) * ''Django-Shift'' (Whirlwind, 2020) * ''Oasis'' with Isabelle Oliver (Enja, 2020)

As guest

, ''Aam Zameen: Common Ground'' (Self-released 2011) * Kiran Ahluwalia, ''Wanderlust'' (World Connection, 2007) * Mike Clark, ''Carnival of Soul'' ( Owl Studios, 2010) * Sunny Jain, ''Mango Festival'' (Zoho, 2004) *

, ''Kinsmen'' (Pi, 2008) * Rudresh Mahanthappa, ''Apti'' (Innova, 2008) * Dave Pietro, ''The Chakra Suite'' (Challenge, 2008) *

Adam Rudolph Adam Rudolph (born September 12, 1955) is a jazz composer and percussionist performing in the post-bop and world fusion media. In 1988, Rudolph met jazz musician Yusef Lateef, and the two would go on to collaborate and perform together for t ...

, ''Turning Towards the Light'' (Cuneiform, 2015)

References

Sources

* ''Bielefeld Catalogue'', 1988 & 2002 * Richard Cook and Brian Morton:''

The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' is a reference work containing an encyclopedic directory of jazz recordings on CD which were (at the time of publication) currently available in Europe or the United States. The first nine editions were compiled ...

'', 8th Edition, London, Penguin, 2006,
Official site

External links

Official site
*
Interview (2012)

Rez Abbasi's trio on NYC Radio LIVE!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasi, Rez Jazz fusion musicians American jazz composers American male jazz composers American music educators American jazz guitarists 1965 births Living people Musicians from Karachi 20th-century American guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American male musicians Sunnyside Records artists Enja Records artists Cuneiform Records artists Guitarists from New York City