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Josh Workman

Jazz and World Music guitarist who teaches at Musicians Institute in L.A.

About Me

Josh Workman is an internationally traveled guitarist, composer, educator, journalist, and audio editor who teaches at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA. Performance and recording in groups or as sideman: Josh has performed and/or recorded with Larry Vuckovich, Lynda Carter, Margaret Cho, Debbie Harry, David Grisman, John Jorgenson, The Jazz Passengers, Jon Hendricks, Maria Muldaur, Houston Person, Groove Collective/Groove Thing, Deanna Martin, Indigo Swing, The Hot Club of San Francisco, Benny Green, Harold Jones, Akira Tana, Corinne West, The West Coast Ramblers, B-Stars, and many others. Performance and recording as a leader: The release, ‘Jumpin at the Border’ reached #24 on the JazzWeek national radio charts and received critical acclaim, garnering four out of five stars on All Music Guide and receiving the International Association of Jazz Educators Blue Chip Award - among the top four instrumentals of the year. Performances in support of this release included Yoshi’s in Oakland, Jazz at Pearl’s in San Francisco, as well as the Jazz Bakery in L.A. and various venues in the Southwest. Recording for television, video games, and apps: Performed and recorded all guitar samples for the 'Archtop' sound library for Impact Soundworks. Recorded, performed and edited various guitar (electric, acoustic, lap-steel) and mandolin parts for the Dead Island2 video game. Performed various guitar parts for production house, Music Orange, including Garageband (Apple app); Ubisoft and El Pollo Loco TV commercials. Teaching: Has taught privately for thirty years plus guitar, composition, theory, and jazz/rock band classes at San Francisco School of the Arts, Marin School of the Arts, San Francisco State University, Jazz Camp West, Blue Bear School of Music, Marin Community Music, and for music clinics while on tour. He currently teaches various guitar and recording classes at Musicians Institute in L.A. Journalist: Has written many articles and done video and audio lessons for Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar, and other publications since 1999. He is currently awaiting the release of his first instructional book from Stringletter Publishing. Composition/arranging/audio editing/app development: In addition to writing his own jazz and World Music originals, Workman has been working as a composer and audio editor, primarily for the creative wing of The Elfenworks Foundation (since 2009). His work can be heard on ‘Ireland, The Celtic Way’ (winner of best documentary at the L.A. 3-D Film Fest), ‘What Green Can Be,’ (official selection of The Sedona Film Festival) and a wide variety of audio and video projects that benefit clients of the foundation. He also functioned as project manager, audio engineer, composer, and audio editor for The Breathing Butterfly (children’s meditation app), which has received great reviews from parents, educators, and hospitals. Josh also split the audio cleanup duties for Kurt Weitzmann’s film about Margaret Cho’s “BeRobin” campaign, which is in post-production, as of Fall, 2015. Transcriber: Transcribed music for roughly seventy-five transcription books through Warner Bros, Hal Leonard, Advance Music, and others. The styles varied wildly and included such artists as Pantera, Iron Maiden, BB King, Santana, The Eagles, Bob Marley, T-Bone Walker, John Scofield, Joe Pass, John Abercrombie, and many others. Education: B.A. in music from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, also attended Berklee College of Music (on “Jim Hall” and “Professional Music” scholarships). Graduated from San Francisco School of the Arts (high school). Teachers include: Jim Hall, Gene Bertoncini, Tuck Andress, Bruce Forman, Vic Juris, and Ray Scott, among others.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because of the freedom it allows me to express myself, musically. I was first exposed to jazz-like music by my mother, by way of her practicing Scott Joplin tunes on the piano when I was a little kid. I believe the ragtime set up my ears for later being drawn to jazz. I definitely want to thank my first guitar teacher, Ray Scott for handing me countless tapes of jazz players when all I wanted to do was learn rock & roll! My life was forever changed at about age 13 when he gave me a beat up Tonemaster cassette with Wes Montgomery playing "Road Song." Man, my world was turned upside-down!