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Karen Segal
About Me
Karen Segal is a San Francisco-based guitarist known for her versatility across multiple genres,
including jazz, rock, funk, fusion, folk, and Latin music. Her playing is distinguished by its eclectic,
soulful, and original sound.
JAZZIZ magazine described Segal’s 2009 release, The Mystery of Life as “a particularly free-spirited
style of jazz.” and “a prodigious leap in jazz fusion,” by JazzTimes ,noting her influences “from the
bluesy styled arcs of John Scofield to the eclectic rock imagery of Pat Metheny.”
After studying with Dean Brown (Marcus Miller) a teenager, she moved to Boston to Copenhagen,
where she played free jazz with Marilyn Mazur, (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Chick Corea). Later,
in London, Segal studied jazz guitar with Cedric West (BBC Radio Orchestra) and performed
choreographed funk inspired by Prince. In Los Angeles, she recorded and performed acid jazz with
guitarist David Brown (Brazzaville) and trumpeter Elliott Caine. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2000
she has since composed, performed, and recorded original jazz alongside artists including Alan Hall,
Marcus Shelby, Perry Thoorsell, Maya Kronfeld, Brian Rice, and Allison Miller.
Karen’s latest album Open, featuring herself on guitar, Josh Thurston-Milgrem on bass, and Allison
Miller on drums, is due for release in spring 2025. It is adventurous, playful, at times deep-groooved
and other times free-flowing. The freshness of the music was beautiful captured by Julie Wolf and
Adam Munoz at Opus Studio in Oakland over the course of two days and mixed and mastered by
Cookie Marenco and Patrick O'Connor at OTR Studio in Belmont CA. Open includes seven original
compositions, six spontaneous guitar & drum duets, and covers “All Blues” (M. Davis) and “Binky's
Dream” (J. McLaughlin).
My Jazz Story
My House Concert Story
My friend Phyllis in Berkeley hosts amazing house concerts! Great sound, space, intimacy!
