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Michael M. Coppola

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My Jazz Story

jazz has been my life since i was 15. i had played guitar for a few years, then i heard john mclaughlin. i could not comprhend what he was doing, so different from the eric clapton, johnny winter music i liked at the time. mclaughlin led me to miles and then to bebop and on and on. i studied with sal salvador. after hearing charlie bird, i began classical guitar. i studied with fred hand and then to boston conservatory, then to vienna hochschule fuer musik. i eventually i played with the genius john mehegan and studied his books on improvisation and piano harmony. in 1986 i developed the 8 string guitar with inner strings to get pianistic voicings.in 2000 i added a 9th string. when i met and played with les paul at the irridium he said "you're really on to something, you're a real innovator" my favorite gigs have been the montreal jazz festival, the blue note in nyc and the chet atkins festival in nashville. please check out my new solo guitar cd "voicings in my head"

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