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New Brunswick Jazz Project Closes Jazz Appreciation Month with Dave Stryker & The Stryker/Slagle Band

By Virginia DeBerry
DAVE STRYKER & THE STRYKER/SLAGLE BAND SATURDAY APRIL 30, 8PM-12AM TUMULTY’S PUB 361 GEORGE STREET, NEW BRUNSWICK $5.00 Cover
Whether you’ve heard guitarist Dave Stryker fronting his own group (with 20 CD’s as a leader to date), or as a featured sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, and Kevin Mahogany, you know why Gary Giddins in the Village Voice calls him “one of the most distinctive guitarists to come along in recent years.” He was voted one of the Top Ten Guitarists in the 2001 Critics and Readers poll of Downbeat Magazine, and was recently elected again as a Rising Star in the 2006 and 2007 Downbeat Critics Poll.
Stryker grew up in Omaha, Nebraska and moved to New York City in 1980. After establishing himself in the local music scene, he joined organist Jack McDuff’s group, traveling all over the U.S. for two years (1984-85). From 1986 to 1995, Stryker played with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, performing at all the major festivals, concert halls, and clubs throughout the world. He is featured on two Turrentine CDs and with Stanley, Stryker was able to play with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Freddie Hubbard.
Dave recently 2 CD’s on Mel Bay Records; “The Chaser”, and “Big City” which received a 4 Star Review in Downbeat Magazine and he has recorded and published over 100 of his own compositions. Some of the other artists who have recorded his music are: Stanley Turrentine, Kevin Mahogany, Victor Lewis, Steve Slagle, and Ultrablue. Dave continues to perform with his working unit The Stryker / Slagle Band (with long-time partner Steve Slagle), as well as his other projects: The Dave Stryker Organ Trio, and The Blue to the Bone Band. Recent gigs for The Stryker / Slagle Band have included the a week at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola @Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival, The Blue Note in Las Vegas, The Jazz Bakery in LA, and a 2003 tour of Japan.
Sideman work has included vocalist Kevin Mahogany’s group, with Dave writing and arranging music for Kevin’s Telarc release Pride and Joy and Another Time, Another Place on Warner Bros, and tours of Europe, Japan, Brazil, Poland and Carnegie Hall. He also has worked with Blue Note saxophonist Javon Jackson and pianist Eliane Elias. He has appeared on over 50 CD’s as a sideman.
Dave is also involved in passing along his experience by teaching both privately and at the Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop, The Litchfield Jazz Camp, and at Outreach Jazz Workshop in Austria. His book Dave Stryker’s Jazz Guitar Improvisation Method, is available from Mel Bay Publishing.
For more information and to order books and CD’s visit www.davestryker.com
“The New Brunswick Jazz Project is quickly becoming NJ’s freshest jazz presenters…” -Star Ledger