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Darren Kelly
About Me
Darren Kelly: Jazz guitar(hollow-body, main instrument),fretless acoustic hollow-body(arch-
top),acoustic guitar(6 string),acoustic guitar(12 string), flat-body electric guitar, electric sitar, acoustic
bass guitar(fretless), upright bass, fretless/headless- electric Jazz bass guitar(Dbass-I built it in
1987), acoustic piano, stage piano, marimba, drums, percussion, synthesizers, drum machine(s),——
JAZZ & INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC COMPOSER & ARRANGER/PRODUCER—MAKER ,PERFORMER
AND RECORDER OF JAZZ AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC =Been a musician for = Well, I really don't
remember ever not being one: I just trained myself how to do what I'm able to do over a long period
of time (SINCE 1970)-I was 4 years old when I started to play the guitar; I picked it up and started
playing SHAFT right away. Been playing ever since. The music that I first heared that turned me onto
Jazz was the Freddie Hubbard album:FIRST LIGHT(1970/71)-my father had the album.(when me &
my brother Greg use to play our little cheep guitars, we didn't just listen to Shaft and Sex Machine,
we liked jazz too…but we did know how to get down at an early age. I personally enjoyed everything
from Bosa Nova to television & movie theme music-(Perry Mason, Beretta, The Good, The Bad & The
Ugly,, Cannon, Mannox, James Bond music, Sheryl Bassie everything, etc... I learned to compose and
arrange that kind of music as well and learned to play most of it on the bass and the guitar and
drums as well as other instruments, as well as come up with string arrangements to go with the stuff
that I was making. I always seemed to be able to memorize things, (I DID A LOT OF THINKING). I
made music long before I owned an arsenal of instruments. I only had a guitar and a bass at my
disposal- (for lack of better words); AND NO AMP. The music I make is almost all instrumental, but I
don't play jazz all the time. Some of it is quite rambunctious and hard BUT WITH ORCHESTRAL
ELEMENTS & orchestrations, STRINGS, LOUD DRUM BEATS WITH JAZZ GUITAR SOLOS and
SERIOUSLY PROFOUND BASS LINES. (THAT'S WHAT THROWDOWN IS...it's like gumbo(you put
only the right ingredients in the pot and then you approach it like you intend to do some work and
some damage at the same time). I CREATED THIS STYLE OF MUSIC WHEN I WAS 14 YEARS OLD-
(1980)-it's quite organic. It’s thematic orchestral jazz. Long, long pieces of music. 20minutes
sometimes. This is the kind of stuff I would hear and play in my head all during the days when I was
in Junior High and High School...It kept me able to groove during the day. I was creating music in my
head and teaching myself how to compose and arrange music that was as good or better than what I
was hearing on the radio. I always wanted to prepare myself to be able to record this stuff once I get
more equipment. (This was a 10year old thinking like this) I always felt I needed more gear growing
up with one or two instruments around. And just my thoughts to rely on at times. I hated school and I
loved music. That always seemed to be more important to me than learning about George
Washington & Valley Forge and the periodic chart of the elements and so on and so on. (I think most
musicians didn't like school very much either). I got the word THROWDOWN from an old Parliament
song-(Supergroovalisticprostafunkafication)(The Mothership Connection Album 1974)the first song
on the album side A
Darren Kelly-themasterofthrowdown email- [email protected]
Google- [email protected]
