Jack DeSalvo

Jack DeSalvo

Musicians | Instrument: Guitar | Location: New York City

Using both acoustic and electric instruments, DeSalvo demonstrates technique, intelligence and imagination with a broad streak of lyricism and passion...

—Cadence Magazine

Updated: September 29, 2022

Born: October 15, 1957

Jack DeSalvo, born in New York City, developed his extraordinary guitar style from a deep immersion into modern jazz, classical guitar and his own prolific compositional output. He has been compared to artists as diverse as Ralph Towner and  John McLaughlin and has studied guitar with Bill Connors and Leonid Bolotine, composition with Ariada Mikéshina (herself a student of Richard Strauss) and at Berklee College of Music as well as with composer and theorist George Russell. DeSalvo performs mainly with his own trio and quartet and the group Quintrepid, which includes Jack on guitar, Matt Lambiase on flugelhorn, Chris Forbes on piano, double-bassist Dmitry Ishenko and drummer Tom Cabrera. All About Jazz calls Quintrepid “ a swinging collective with a fresh sound”.

Hailed in THE WIRE magazine as “masterful”,  Jack DeSalvo has performed on over 100 albums with over 30 under his name. He is featured on numerous classic jazz albums, including Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Red Warrior, Spontaneous Combustion by the group D3, Transparencies with Karl Berger, and Anthony Cox, and Liquide Stones in duo with Arthur Lipner.  He has performed worldwide, including at jazz festivals and clubs in Europe. 

Jack DeSalvo is a founder of, and producer for Unseen Rain Records and also a multi-instrumentalist playing (besides classical, steel-string, 12-string and electric guitars) cello, mandolin, banjo, keyboards, etc.


 


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All About Jazz Articles

7
Multiple Reviews

Guitarist Jack DeSalvo: While We Sleep & Quintrepid on Unseen Rain

Read "Guitarist Jack DeSalvo: While We Sleep & Quintrepid on Unseen Rain" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Guitarist/composer Jack DeSalvo has had a long, diverse career emphasizing fusion and free playing. His most visible gig was with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society, but since co-founding the record label Unseen Rain Records he has played on or produced a wide variety of music. For example, his duet album Soldani Dieci Anni (Unseen Rain Records, 2016) with guitarist Dom Minasi contained both free improvisation and mainstream jazz playing, performed on various acoustic guitars. Two recent Unseen Rain releases showcase ...

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His duet album Lumens with German/Swiss saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen received praise on both sides of the Atlantic,  “I have been completely bowled over by this album since it arrived for review a few weeks ago.” – Nick Lea, Jazz Views, “Nicole Johänntgen and Jack DeSalvo pulled out all the stops at the recording session for “Lumens”. Guitar and saxophone play almost hands-free with the themes and find the perfect balance in terms of sound.” – Georg Wassmuth, SWR2, “(DeSalvo’s) conception is pure jazz, comping, accenting and prodding Johänntgen’s watery lines on alto and soprano.” – Downbeat

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Primary Instrument

Guitar

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto
John Coltrane
saxophone
Tal Farlow
guitar
Jan Garbarek
saxophone, tenor
Charlie Haden
bass, acoustic

Contact

Publicist

Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

Management and booking

Europe
Vida Art Management
[email protected]
+41 (76) 493 52 46

North America
Unseen Rain Artists
[email protected]

Music

Wood's Edge

From: Wood's Edge
By Jack DeSalvo

Sudden Moves

From: Jack DeSalvo Live at Scholes...
By Jack DeSalvo

Wovoka

From: Pramantha
By Jack DeSalvo