Paul Bollenback

"Not one jazz virtuoso could put the definition of jazz into words, but all agreed that you know it when you hear it. That's the way it is with Paul Bollenback. It's bona-fide playing, unambiguous, up-front and powerful," summarizes George Benson, a long-time friend. His debut recording, Original Visions, as a leader with Challenge Records, is one of the most creative efforts by a guitarist in recent memory. Double Gemini, his second CD, features four of his own compositions and won the title of CD of The Month in Jim Fisch's distinguished jazz column in 20th Century Jazz Magazine. It won the same award from the renowned jazz radio station WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. Challenge Records has recently released his third recording, Soul Grooves.

Paul Bollenback's emotionally expressive style and eclectic approach is the result of years of listening, studying and playing music by Carlos Santana, Yes, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter and Lenny Breau. At the age of seven, Paul received a nylon-string guitar from his father, a classically trained trumpeter and lover of music. When Paul was eleven, his family relocated to new Delhi, India, on a three-year consulting engagement with United States Aid. It was there that he cultivated his life-long interest in exotic musical sounds and timbres, which is evident in Original Visions. When his family returned to the United States, Paul's father bought him an electric guitar and he began listening to rock-and-roll. Then he heard Miles Davis and his world changed forever.

Bollenback attended the University of Miami as a Music major, he later studied privately for eight years with Baltimore-based professor of Theory/Composition Asher Zlotnik. In 1993 while touring in Europe Paul was awarded a grant from the Virginia Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts to compose and perform "New Music for Three Jazz Guitars".

In 1997, Bollenback was named Musician of the Year at the Washington Area Music Awards, and became an Adjunct Professor of Music at the American University in Washington, DC. His two compositions, "Wookies's Revenge" and "Romancin' the Moon" (featured on Joey DeFrancesco's Rebboppin') earned him the SESAC award for original songs and he was later invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Paul was featured at the 1998 World Internet Trade Show in Los Angeles, and his band opened the New York Guitar Show in May 1998 where he also performed with John Pisano.

Paul has appeared on the Tonight Show, Good Morning America, Joan Rivers, The Today Show, and Entertainment Tonight. He has contributed some acoustic guitar work to America's Most Wanted and has played with an impressive spectrum of musicians, including Stanley Turrentine, Gary Bartz, Joey DeFrancesco, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Joe Locke, Gary Thomas, Steve Wilson, Shunzo Ohno, James Moody, David “Fathead” Newman, Jack McDuff, Charlie Byrd, Paul Bley, Carol Sloane, Chris McNulty, Melissa Walker, Carter Jefferson, Dave Valentin, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Bruno, and East Meets Jazz(with Sandip Burman).

Brian Ho: Bridges

Read "Bridges" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 22, 2024

Bridges is a showcase of the Hammond B3 organ's soulful capabilities as performed by the San Francisco Bay area's stellar organist Brian Ho. Accompanied by the rhythm section of the deft guitarist Paul Bollenback and the dynamic drummer Byron Landham, both of whom were members of the late Joey DeFrancesco's trio for over twenty years, this album is a journey through a thoughtfully curated selection of songs blending Ho's original numbers with jazz standards and popular tunes. The ...

Album Review

Troy Roberts: Green Lights

Read "Green Lights" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 1, 2024

There is an abundance of listenable music on Green Lights, the album from New York-based tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts--his sixteenth as leader in sixteen years. Clearly, he must be doing something right. That “something" includes playing graceful and eloquent tenor, mustering admirable sidemen for this quartet date, and focusing on largely agreeable music (Roberts wrote all of the album's ten generally likable songs). The sidemen in question are guitarist Paul Bollenback, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jimmy ...

Album Review

Stan Killian: Brooklyn Calling

Read "Brooklyn Calling" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
August 17, 2022

Years ago, a group of folks were having dinner at a Westside San Antonio, Texas, restaurant known as Los Barrios. Occasionally, some restaurants there would start a jazz policy. In a place better known for mariachis, this would be a pleasant surprise. One Friday evening, some kid was playing tenor sax, quite a bit of tenor sax, in fact. The guy's name—because getting his card seemed like a good idea—was Stan Killian, not a familiar one among the roll of ...

Album Review

Alternative Guitar Summit: Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 1

Read "Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 1" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
May 20, 2022

Each year the Alternative Guitar Summit, led by Joel Harrison, presents a concert to honor a living jazz composer/guitarist. That wasn't possible in 2021, however, as venues in and around New York City were shuttered tight by the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, it was clear that the chosen honoree, the great Pat Martino, was gravely ill and might not have another year to live. With that in mind, members of the Summit took their guitars straight to a studio to record ...

Album Review

Pat Bianchi: Something to Say: The Music of Stevie Wonder

Read "Something to Say: The Music of Stevie Wonder" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer

by Victor L. Schermer
January 28, 2022

This album is a tribute to Stevie Wonder, who beyond his popularity and fame has always been a an exceptional musician. It features four superb musicians, an organ trio consisting of Pat Bianchi on Hammond B-3 organ, Paul Bollenback on guitar, and Byron Landham on drums, with Wayne Escoffery as guest tenor saxophonist that honors Wonder's work with artistry and attention to his unique style. It synthesizes the jazz swing idiom with R&B/ soul music, both of which inspired Wonder ...

Album Review

Pat Bianchi: Something to Say: The Music of Stevie Wonder

Read "Something to Say: The Music of Stevie Wonder" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
December 25, 2021

When considering pop artists whose music might readily lend itself to a jazz milieu, Stevie Wonder's name isn't one that springs readily to mind. Organist Pat Bianchi, however, felt that Wonder had Something to Say in a jazz context, so he set about canvassing Wonder's art and reimagining it in terms of an organ trio, accentuating the composer's singular gift for melody and harmony and replacing the lyrics with solos by organ, guitar and (in two instances) tenor saxophone.

Album Review

Gemma Sherry: Music To Dream To

Read "Music To Dream To" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 13, 2021

Vocalist Gemma Sherry's fourth album, Music to Dream To, recorded in July 2020, closely follows her third, Let's Get Serious, released less than a year earlier. This latest album expresses Sherry's love for the music of South America in general and Brazilian bossa nova in particular, with half a dozen engaging songs that sway to an irresistible bossa (or samba) beat. Two numbers—"The Telephone Song" and “Keep Talking"—are repeated ("acoustic version," the track listing points out), and even counting the ...

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Performance / Tour

Vince Seneri at Zanzibar Blue with Dave Valentin, Paul Bollenback and Randy Brecker! August 25th, 26th, & 27th

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
August 25, 2006

Vince Seneri at Zanzibar Blue with Dave Valentin, Paul Bollenback and Randy Brecker!

http://www.zanzibarblue.com/

Vince Seneri blazes his way back to Zanzibar Blue, in Philly, August 25th, 26th, & 27th. His special guests will be the legendary Randy Brecker, master guitarist Paul Bollenback, and Grammy award-winning jazz flutist Dave Valentin. Zanzibar Blue is located at 200 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19102, (215) 732-4500.

Vince Seneri has been pleasing audiences for over twenty years. He is one of the most ...
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Festival