John Pizzarelli and Ahmed el-Gebali, Two Brilliant Guitarists

Posted May 25th, 2011 at 4:41 pm (UTC+0)
2 comments

American guitarist John Pizzarelli

American guitarist John Pizzarelli (Courtsey his web site)

[audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2011_05/pizzarelli_Avalon_sample.mp3]Diaa Bekheet | Washington, DC – In the fall of 1980, a college friend introduced me to the music of some famous American and British guitarists who were making big headlines at the time. While he made mint tea for us at his home, I spotted a guitar catalog on his desk. I started flipping through the pages and looking at photos.  I was introduced to the work of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, the Bellamy Brothers, and the Who’s Pete Townshend, an artist known for smashing his guitars on stage many times.  At the time I was looking for a picture of Elvis Presley, America’s world famous guitarist-singer-actor.  I was spellbound by the way he shook his legs on stage. I found nothing, unfortunately!

But in one of the catalog’s photos, a young guitarist was sitting next to American guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli. That’s how I learned about John Pizzarelli.  “He looks Italian to me, not American” I said.

Egyptian guitarist Ahmed el-Gebali

My friend Ahmed el-Gebali, now Egypt’s top guitarist, said he cared about his guitar style not his nationality.

[audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2011_05/gebali_winter_love_summer_love-sample.mp3]

“Music knows no boundaries, dude. We’re talking about guitar skills here. John Pizzeralli has them in spades,” he said. “One of the keys to success in guitar is to study someone who has gone before you and learn from his styles or often follow his footsteps,” explained Gebali who has tasteful, yet blisteringly fast, guitar skills.

[audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2011_05/Gebali_malagina.mp3]

John Pizzarelli is an American musician who sings in English while playing the guitar. “You are always stuck to the guitar no matter what. It’s always sealed to my shoulder,” said Pizzarelli who turned 51 last month. He spoke briefly with VOA’s Jazz America.

[audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2011_05/John_Pizzarelli_Jazz_America_Jazz_beat_may11.mp3]

John is the son of acclaimed guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, who played a custom seven-string guitar with some of the biggest names in jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. The extra-low A-string, introduced by jazz guitarist George Van Eps, expands the guitar’s range to include bass lines.

Egyptian guitarist Ahmed el-Gebali

Ahmed el-Gebali is a guitar maestro who sings in English and Arabic thousands of miles away in Egypt. He’s known for fusing jazz with rock, classical and Arabic music for the first time at a live show in London. The style was so popular that he released it on a special album titled “Gebali Show.”

[audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2011_05/Gebali_jazz_rock_arab_music.mp3]

“My past experience and guitar studies abroad harnessed my skills that I was able to come up with this music mix,” he said. “I loved American music, jazz, rock n’ roll, hard rock and heavy metal [stars], and I wanted to play guitar like them until I developed my own style,” said Gebali who bought his first guitar during a visit to Syria while in middle school. [audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2011_05/Gebali_02mix.mp3]“I learned a lot from my guitar lessons in Canada and Germany, where I rubbed shoulders with professional guitarists,” said Gebali as he recounted challenges he’d had during a composing and arranging project in 1993. He has released more than a dozen albums since 1990.

The Beatles in New York, in this Feb. 9, 1964

[audio:http://www.voanews.com/MediaAssets2/english/2011_05/beatles_1.mp3]What do Pizzarelli and Gebali have in common? Both guitar virtuosos grew up in the 1960s and 1970s listening to the Beatles. In fact, the Beatles’ popular music culture was immense at the time. Their all-time hit, “Hey Jude,” inspired musicians around the world. I used to sing “Hey Jude” in the corridors of VOA when I first came to the United States in 1989. The song stuck with me since I had first listened to it at Gebali’s home in the Nile Delta city of Zagazig, Egypt in 1979.

I learned to play acoustic guitar at school, but I never wanted to be a star. From the time I was a little kid, it always baffled me how just a box and six strings could produce different kinds of music, including jazz, blues, classical, flamenco, rock, folk and more.

For more on jazz music, listen to VOA’s Jazz America

Diaa Bekheet
Diaa Bekheet has worked for a host of media outlets, including Radio Cairo in English, ETV News, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) and the Associated Press. He joined VOA in Feb. 1989 as an International Broadcaster, hosting a variety of popular news and entertainment shows such as Newshour, Radio Ride Across America, Business Week, and Jazz Club USA. He has interviewed a number of Jazz celebrities, including the legendary Dizzy Gillespie, Ramsey Lewis, Wayne Shorter, and George Benson. Diaa is currently an editor for our main English site, VOAnews.com.

2 responses to “John Pizzarelli and Ahmed el-Gebali, Two Brilliant Guitarists”

  1. Jeremiah Gilliam says:

    I’m gone to inform my little brother, that he should also pay a quick visit this webpage on regular basis to take updated from latest news.

  2. […] Pizzarelli, who is also a radio host and a television personality, has just returned to the United States from a European tour where he performed and promoted Double Exposure. The album is slated for release in May. […]

About

About

VOA’s music bloggers bring you info about all kinds of music. Katherine Cole will keep you up-to-date on the world of Bluegrass and Americana music while Ray McDonald rocks the Pop charts and artists. Diaa Bekheet  jams with you on Jazz.  Visit us often. Your comments are welcome.

Categories

Calendar

May 2011
M T W T F S S
« Apr   Jun »
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031