Guitarist Garrison Fewell was born in Charlottesville, Virginia and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At age 11 he began studying acoustic blues and stride guitar, playing music by Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, and Reverend Gary Davis. In 1967, Garrison started performing professionally in the Philadelphia area, playing transcriptions of Delta Blues guitarists and original instrumental accoustic improvisational music, appearing at The Main Point, Phiadelphia’s most important accoustic music venue.
A Middle East tour in 1972, with performing opportunities in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, introduced Garrison to exotic new melodies and rhythms. Returning to the U.S. in 1973, he studied jazz guitar with Lenny Breau and Pat Martino, and received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Guitar Performance from Berklee College of Music in Boston.
A Professor of Guitar at Boston’s Berklee College of Music since 1977, Garrison brought his well-tuned approach to jazz harmony, improvisation, and guitar playing to most of the major European conservatories of music. In 1988 he was chosen to participate in the first Faculty Exchange Program between Rotterdam Conservatory in Holland, and Berklee College. Garrison lived in Rotterdam, teaching at the Conservatory, and began collaborating with great Dutch jazz artists such as pianist Cees Slinger, and ex-patriot Americans in the dynamic jazz scene of Holland. Garrison played at the North Sea Jazz Festival in duo with American pianist Dave Frank.
In 1989, Garrison moved over to Paris, teaching at the American School of Modern Music, and performing in the famous jazz clubs of the Saint Germain des Pres area. An Italian tour that summer concluded with a performance at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia.
Garrison formed a duo with American pianist Alex Ulanowsky (former Berklee Harmony Department Chair and author of the Berklee harmony textbooks). Together they created a new approach to teaching jazz theory and improvisation. Performing in concert halls by night, and teaching by day, the duo embarked on an extensive touring schedule which included all the major conservatories in Holland, the Belgian Jazz summer course near Brussells, Graz Conservatory in Austria, concerts at Jazzland, Vienna, and workshop/concerts in Milan, Verona, Italy and Lugano, Switzerland.
A 1991 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts sent Garrison to Germany to teach at the Jazz-Rock School in Freiburg, and the Conservatories of Music in Leipzig, and Weimar, where he researched and wrote a lecture titled "Jazz Counterpoint and The Music of Bach and Charlie Parker". In 1992, Garrison returned to teach at the Conservatories of Cologne and Aachen, Germany, and played with bassist David Friesen at the Zelt Music Festival in Freiburg.
From 1994 to 1999, Garrison was invited by the Polish Jazz Society to teach harmony and guitar at their summer jazz course near Warsaw, where he played with the finest Polish jazz artists, and appeared at festivals such as the Solo/Duo/Trio Festival in Krakow, and performed on Polish radio broadcasts from Gdansk and Warsaw.
Garrison's 1995 recording, "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" featured bassist Cecil McBee, pianist Laszlo Gardony, and drummer Matt Wilson. The cd received extensive radio airplay on the Gavin Jazz Chart, reaching #11 on College Media Journal’s chart for nationwide college radio stations, and was the featured album on Jazziz Magazine’s Radio Active chart. The editors of Guitar Player Magazine voted "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" "Best Record of 1996", and Down Beat gave it a four star review.
A 1995 Artslink grant funded a trip to Hungary and a live concert in Budapest with pianist Laszlo Gardony, broadcast for Hungarian National Radio. This resulted in a third cd for Accurate Records, titled "Reflection of a Clear Moon" which was chosen "Top Ten Jazz Albums of 1997" by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The duo returned to perform at the Tatabanya Jazz Festival with renowned trumpeter Dusko Goykovich, and saxophonist Zbigniew Namyslowski, where they taught the summer jazz course for the Institute for Creative Education. The Laszlo Gardony/Garrison Fewell duo performed at several Hungarian jazz festivals, recorded a concert for Hungarian Television, and played the Copenhagen Jazz House for a recording by Danish Radio.
The International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) invited Garrison to give a workshop with pianist Bill Dobbins at the Inaugural European IAJE Conference in Maastricht, Holland, where he performed with the IAJE All-Stars and appeared in the Jazz Mecca Festival.
Garrison performed with his trio and conducted Jazz Workshops at the Montreux Jazz Festival from 1995-1999, sponsored by Gibson Guitars and Berklee College of Music. In 1996, Gibson sent Garrison to play in a duo with guitarist Tal Farlow for the Music Messe in Frankfurt, Germany.
Garrison continues to play, teach, and record in the U.S. and Europe. This summer, he performed at the Saint-Elpidio Jazz Festival with saxophonist Benny Golson. Garrison’s newest recording, "Birdland Sessions" is on the Koch Jazz label. Recorded at Birdland Jazz Club, NYC, it features pianist Jim McNeely, bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Jeff Williams.
A new recording "City of Dreams" will be released on Splasch Records in Italy, featuring pianist George Cables, saxophonists Tino Tracanna, bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Jeff Williams.
