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Rolf Sturm

Rolf Sturm has been a full time guitarist, based in the NYC area, since 1984.

About Me

Rolf’s guitar playing has earned the praise of Joe Pass, Jim Hall, John Abercrombie, and Bill Frisell. He appears on over 60 CDs. He has performed with or played on recordings that feature: Tony Trischka, Loudon Wainwright, Anthony Braxton, David Johansen, John Medeski, Billy Martin, Glen Velez, Maggie Roche, Jorma Kaukonen, Roswell Rudd, Dave Douglas, Ike Willis, Eddy Arnold, Pablo Aslan, Catherine Russell, Giora Feidman, and members of the Grateful Dead. He is a member of “Tomas Ulrich's Cargo Cult” and he co- leads the NYC trio “Tricycle”. Rolf is also a member of the “Strike Anywhere Performance Ensemble” and the “Walter Thompson Orchestra”.

Rolf has toured the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, and the UK, performing at dozens of jazz, jam band/rock, folk, and blues festivals (including the World Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany, the JVC Jazz Festival, the Boston Folk Festival, the Syracuse Jazz Festival, Ripplefest, Music On The Mountain Festival, and the Toronto Jazz Festival.). He has performed at Lincoln Center, and Town Hall in NYC, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. He has appeared on soundtracks for both film and television and his music has been featured on National Public Radio’s All Songs Considered. His solo guitar recording, “Balance”, received rave reviews and was awarded 4 stars in DownBeat magazine.

“Rolf Sturm is an astounding fingerstyle player effortlessly alternating between swinging jazz chords and beautifully executed single note lines. His improvisational abilities are both impressive and expressive.”, wrote James Scott from his Minor 7th review of Rolf’s “Balance” CD. “..Sturm is a prodigious talent and is an unparalleled virtuoso of the nylon stringed guitar. ”Balance” is highly recommended and should be required listening for all fans of contemporary music.”

He has a new solo acoustic recording entitled, “Young”, release date: mid April 2016.