Todd Clouser

Member Since: 2010 | Location: Minneapolis | Page Views: 2,091

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"A young, jazz and beyond guitarist/composer Todd Clouser is an accomplished musician across the modern jazz and rock spectrum, leading a unique path to recognition as an up and coming act, performing with musicians from Steven Bernstein to Keb Mo

Todd Clouser, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, is an accomplished guitarist, composer, producer, and writer with credits on over a dozen national releases and a number of albums as bandleader, highlighted by the organic compositions of 2006's ”Baja”, 2008's modern groove record “Beatnik Highway”, and his newest collective, Todd Clouser’s A Love Electric, an aggressive, intuitive mash of 70's rock, Curtis Mayfield groove, and modern jazz. Clouser's production and playing span a number of genres, most recently settling in the modern jazz idiom. With a reputation for energetic and engaging performances, Todd's interest in a synthesis of styles and dedication to craft consistently draws committed crowds healthy in number and have positioned him as an artist increasingly in demand on the international modern jazz scene. 2009 passed as Clouser's brightest year yet, completing an international tour with legendary trumpeter, arranger, and Grammy nominee Steven Bernstein, the two joining as bandleaders backed by members of Guadalajara's Troker and performing to crowds of a thousand plus. Todd's headlining appearances at Minneapolis' Dakota Jazz Club were another highlight, Todd leading his quartet to a full house at the legendary venue. The year also saw performances with modern blues legend Keb Mo, members of the Billy Joel Band, jazz trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, guitarist Jack Sonni of Dire Straits, and a number of other fine and celebrated musicians. Things came to a close in 2009 at Todd's adopted hometown of San Jose del Cabo's city Plaza for the finest and grandest Arts Day Out yet, Todd's non-profit program to celebrate and inspire the youth of Los Cabos, attended by over a dozen organizations, galleries, and interactive art exhibitors, all provided free to the public. With the release of Todd Clouser's A Love Electric, Clouser is gaining notoriety as a member of a new generation of jazz guitarists who have been equally influenced by rock, groove, and the heroes of jazz, crossing boundaries in composition and performance. Clouser will spend 2011 touring with A Love Electric internationally, the collective of musicians changing to reflect the location, keeping the music in motion. In the US, Todd is joined by emerging national player pianist Bryan Nichols, trumpeter Adam Meckler, upright bassist Chris Bates, and drummer Greg Schutte While in Mexico, A Love Electric features some of the country's most celebrated jazz players - Hernan Hecht on drums and Gilberto Cervantes on trumpet. Other projects include The Beautiful Organ Trio, with Roberto Blanco and drummer Pedro Cervera, and a vehicle for Clouser to continue his reputation as a prolific songwriter, The Hope Tonic, a trio featuring drummer J.T. Bates. In all of his projects, Clouser has an extraordinary ability to put together ensembles of extraordinary musicians, each group maintaining an honesty that would seemingly suffer from the abundance of groups Clouser performs with. Clouser currently resides most often in Los Cabos, Mexico where he performs regularly at the area's most celebrated venues and teaches privately and with a number of local schools and charitable organizations, while not on tour with his own acts. Todd continues to work with local non-profits in the Los Cabos area, dedicating performances and clinics, and is the founder of Arts Day Out, days to celebrate and inspire the youth of Los Cabos through the arts, absent of money or fundraising. Clouser's writing can be seen in a variety of publications, including Destino Magazine, and regular columns in the Baja's English language newspaper, Baja Pulse. Todd has studied with Marc Ribot, Jonathan Kreisberg, David Fiuczynski, Medeski Martin and Wood, David Tronzo, Peter Sprague, Berklee profesors Jim Kelly and Mike Ihde, and a number of other jazz and beyond internationally recognized artists. You can find Todd performing regularly and teaching in Los Cabos and increasingly on the Mexican mainland, with a US run of shows coming a couple times a year.