Hello all,
My name is Kenny Wilson
I am a guitarist that is currently based in Pacific North West /Portland OR area.
I have been playing Guitar since the age of 6.
I first started out like most people by learning how to play popular music and as I progressed I found myself interested in all kinds of music.
In the beginning I played in garage bands doing Rock and Pop.
As I got older I played in bands that performed in clubs and concerts on the local tri state level
As my interest in music developed I started to listen to other styles of music and started to get involved in playing and studying Jazz and Classical music as an outlet to learn how to play better guitar.
For many years I had the goal of becoming a Studio Guitarist so I got involved in learning as much as I could about how to improve my playing to accomplish this goal.
I studied with a few well known guitarists and learned how to read music and adapt myself to the goal of doing studio work.
Around the 80s things started to get tough in the studios so it became increasingly harder to break in so I got a hold of a 4 track and started to mess around on my own for the sheer fun of it.
I have played guitar for a few interesting people in the past including a few Grammy Winning / nominated Artists,
Sadly for me not on the albums but for the Artists them self's on live gigs. Dr. William Schimell and Gospel Artist Andre Crouch to name a few.
Currently I am writing music and posting some of my songs to generate some possible interest in my playing as I would like to play full time and make a living at it.
My style is based on years of listening & playing Rock , Jazz , Blues, Country , Dance , Classical, and Film Score Music.
Influences
My early musical influences were Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, Leslie West,
After a few years of playing the guitar and listening to the guitarists that influenced my early influences quite by accident I heard Roy Buchanan and became mesmerized by his playing.
The next guitarist that had a profound impact on me was Joe Pass.
His albums hit me like a ton of bricks and as fate had it I was fortunate to become friends with him and share some inspirited moments with him .
We had became friends or more aptly put he tolerated my company whenever he came to NYC and was helpful to me and was like a father figure to me, and I learned a lot hanging out with him.
Joe Pass, Emily Remler, Barry Gailbraith, Ed Cherry( Dizzys Guitarist) Joe Puma, Arnie Berle, Tony DeCaprio, John Stowell, to name a few were the people whom I studied with and learned the most about Jazz Guitar playing.
I feel fortunate to have been guided by them because learning how to play in that style is a life long undertaking that is rarely accomplished with out a teacher.
To this day I think of these people fondly whether I am playing Jazz or not.