Results for "Mike Brannon"

Mike Brannon

Mike Brannon is guitarist/writer for the Synergy Group in San Antonio, Texas and was born in Atlanta, Ga and first picked up the guitar In high school in Greensboro, NC. Synergy's latest release is Later, with special guests, 2-time grammy winner, tenor saxist Bill Evans, 7-time Grammy winner, drummer Paul Wertico and bassist Harvie S was released in Spring 2006 on the Nextep label. Their previous release, Barcodes with 3-time Grammy winner Jeff Coffin of Bela Fleck and the Flexktones and the Dave Matthews band, and Trey Gunn of King Crimson. Currently they are about to release Off the Map with special guest percussionist, Don Alias

Michael Brecker: He Can Groove Any Way You Want

by Mike Brannon
March 29, 2015

This article was originally published at All About Jazz in August 1998. Once one half of the world renown Brecker Brothers and full time studio legend, tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker relinquished that throne to form a group and deliver his own material. Though the Coltrane influence is present in spirit, its simultaneously transcended, skewered even, by ...

Gary Burton: The Art of Listening

by Mike Brannon
March 28, 2015

This article was originally published at All About Jazz in February 2001. If you had to choose one living musician who has pioneered the current state and techniques of his instrument, championed jazz education and performed with most of the current crop of established, contemporary jazz artists (Chick, Metheny, Jarrett, Herbie) plus has 'discovered' ...

Take Five With Mike Brannon

by AAJ Staff
September 7, 2014

Meet Mike Brannon: Having been born in Atlanta and then lived in North Carolina growing up, those Southern roots were likely to blame when I started playing blues/rock guitar. But I soon discovered Wes Montgomery, Hank Garland, Joe Pass, Tal Farlow and finally Pat Martino. After attending Jackie King's Guitar Conservatory of the Southwest, where ...

Charlie Banacos: Recollections of a Legend

by Mike Brannon
January 28, 2010

"You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" --Joni Mitchell “There are a dozen ways to hit a key." --Charlie Banacos How do you say goodbye to someone who truly changed you; someone who you know caused you to be a better person just for having known them? How do you say goodbye ...

Later

By Mike Brannon

Label: Nextep Records
Released: 2006
Track listing: Vision/FYI (for Bob Berg); Gumbo (for New Orleans); String Theory (for Mike Brecker); Scratch; September 28th; Just Like Now; Loose Ends; Later; Parking Space; Dream Sequence; Crosstalk; Harvie's Blues.

Don Alias: Heart, Soul and Lungs

by Mike Brannon
May 22, 2006

We have lost one of the greats. The proverbial six-degrees-of-separation aside, Don Alias, has played with everyone. Active since the late '50s, he stands as easily the most influential percussionist in jazz and one of the few who ever transcended jazz and flamenco successfully and could by all accounts truly swing hard on congas. Alias has ...

Don Alias: A Tribute

by Mike Brannon
May 22, 2006

World-class conguero, salsero, drummer and percussionist extraordinaire, Charles Donald Alias was born on Christmas Day, 1939--though obviously the music world had yet to know the gift it had received. With a half century and most of his life spent in music, Alias not only performed across a profound cross-section of modern music but was a catalyst ...

Chris Potter: Raising the Bar

by Mike Brannon
April 17, 2006

Like the ripples in a still lake, emanating in every direction across its surface, sometimes certain realizations strike you repeatedly within a short period—like becoming aware of something or someone for the first time, and then referencing it again and again from different sources as your awareness catches up to your first perception. At that point ...

Synergy: Later

by John Kelman
January 18, 2006

Synergy may be a collective in name, but it's really the brainchild of guitarist Mike Brannon. With keyboardist Andy Langham the only carryover from 2000's Barcodes, Brannon handles all compositional/arrangement duties on Later, barring the title track, co-arranged by Brannon and drummer Gerry Gibbs. Like Barcodes there are a number of high profile guests on this ...