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Interviews
Sheryl Bailey: Homecoming
Matthew Warnock
Music Industry Specialist, Blogger, Guitarist and Jazz EducatorSB: Yeah, it was a very special event. My first jazz guitar teacher, John Maione, was there and he was like a father to me because I didn't really have a father growing up. Since my family doesn't really live there any more, they all moved to upstate New York, he was like my family there, beaming from the control room. I felt like he was proud of me and it was a very good feeling, without a doubt.
AAJ: Because Emily and others were very influential to you as you were learning to play the guitar, have you ever gotten to the point where you've had to stop listening or studying a certain player because you felt you were sounding too much like Wes, or Joe Pass, or whomever at a certain point in your development?
Though, if you're going to record a Wes tune then there's a certain expectation of how that song should be played. It's daunting to try and live up to those expectations, but if I'm playing my own tune I'm the only one that has an expectation of what it should like. Doing that over the years has played a key role in developing my own sound, and allowed me to be confident in my own style of playing the guitar. AAJ: It seems like the players that you've mentioned as being influential, guys like Wes and Joe Pass, even Pat Martino SB: I would have to say I really love that '60s vibe, but I love the modern thing too. What am I going to pick to listen to when I'm hanging out? Probably a Horace Silver AAJ: One of the things that really stands out in your playing on this album, and everything that you do, is your tone. What guitar or guitars did you use to record the album and do you tend to use the same guitar for studio work as you do on the bandstand? SB: The guitar I used to record A New Promise was built for me by Ric McCurdy. It's sort of a scaled down ES-335 and I just love that guitar. I was given a gift from Jimmy Wyble AAJ: I'm glad you mentioned Jimmy Wyble, who passed away recently and who is somewhat of a guitarist's guitarist, though not a lot of people outside of the guitar community are really familiar with his work and the impact he has had on so many players. Could you comment on what he meant to you as a player and person for those of us who didn't really get a chance to know him while he was alive? Every day I play that guitar and I'm filled with so much love and appreciation for that gift that he gave me. Everyone who's met him would say the same thing, that he touched them in a very personal and deep way. If I could ever be a quarter as generous and compassionate as he was I could live a very happy life. Beyond his personality, as a musician, he was just so open to new ideas and concepts. For a man in his 80s to tell me to write my own scales to use in my music, he was just so open to new ideas, it really blew me away. As a guitarist he had the most impeccable sound, it was wonderful to listen to. I could just go on and on about Jimmy, he was one of a kind. 
Peter Bernstein
b.1967
guitar
or Russell Malone
Russell Malone
b.1963
guitar, electric
and thinking "I can't do that." That process was in some ways devastating but I guess what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger [laughs]. Having influences and absorbing other people's playing can be a good thing at certain points in our training as guitarists, but I've always concentrated on finding my own sound and writing my own music to get away from that in a sense.
Pat Martino
b.1944
guitar
, who hasn't really come up in this conversation was a big influence for you, are all from that late '60s era crowd of players. Is this the type of jazz that really speaks to you as a player and lover of the genre and do you spend time checking out the more modern players as well as the classic artists?
Horace Silver
b.1928
piano
record or a Chick Corea
Chick Corea
b.1941
piano
, late '60s, recording, that's the music that really speaks to me on a very personal level.
Jimmy Wyble
1922 - 2010
guitar, electric
, a newer version of the same model, which is currently my favorite guitar. The one I used on the album was the very first one that Rick made, and the one that Jimmy gave me was a newer version of it, and it's just amazing how much he has perfected his craft just between those two guitars. It's really amazing; he's such a talented builder and I'm glad to be playing his guitars. I also have a Parker Fly that I use for fusion or rock stuff, but I'm mostly playing Ric's guitars these days.
SB: I really only got to know Jimmy in the last few years. I went out to L.A. in 2007 and he came out to a few of my gigs. To be honest, I wasn't really familiar with his playing at the time, so it was just fate that really brought him into my life. As a person, I can't even begin to describe what an angelic and positive force he was in my life. At the time I met him, I was going through a rough time and really questioning what I was doing with my music and my career. When he gave me that guitar it was his way of saying, "Don't stop doing this."
Selected Discography
