Tony MacAlpine
Tony MacAlpine |
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Tony Jeff MacAlpine (born August 29, 1960, in Springfield, Massachusetts) is an American guitarist and keyboardist. Having released ten studio albums over a career spanning more than two decades, he is best known as a solo guitarist; although he has worked with many different bands and musicians, such as Planet X, Steve Vai, Vinnie Moore, Mark Boals and Vitalij Kuprij.
Biography
Prior to picking up the guitar, MacAlpine was a classically trained pianist and violinist; as such, he is credited with playing all the keyboards on his own albums as well as for other artists. One of his principal musical influences is that of Chopin, (and perhaps in general the Romantic era of classical music[original research?]), and tribute is given by his own interpretations of Chopin's études featuring on the majority of his solo albums. There is at least one display of these piano/keyboard instrumentals on each of his solo albums up to and including Chromaticity (2001).
MacAlpine influenced and contributed much to the neo-classical movement of the late-1980s, becoming known for his instrumental rock-based style of playing that blended elements of shred, blues and fusion. Together with his first two solo albums, Edge Of Insanity (1986) and Maximum Security (1987), MacAlpine played a prominent role on other albums of the 1980s shred era, including keyboard work throughout Vinnie Moore's Mind's Eye (1986) and Joey Tafolla's Out Of The Sun (1987).
As a further indication of MacAlpine's dual dexterity at both the guitar and keyboard, he has made contributions as a guitarist accompanying renowned keyboardists Vitalij Kuprij and Derek Sherinian (latterly with the band Planet X) and, additionally, once provided vocals for his sole non-instrumental release, Master Of Paradise (1999).
In recent years, he has played guitar and keyboards in Steve Vai's touring band, The Breed (until 2006), and is featured on the band's Live At The Astoria London DVD, as well as on the G3 DVDs, G3: Live in Denver (2003) and G3: Live in Tokyo (2005).
Discography
Solo career
- Demo 84 (1984)
- Edge Of Insanity (1986)
- Maximum Security (1987)
- Eyes Of The World (1990)
- Freedom To Fly (1992)
- Madness (1993)
- Premonition (1994)
- Evolution (1995)
- Violent Machine (1996)
- Live Insanity (1997) – live album
- Master Of Paradise (1999)
- Chromaticity (2001)
- Tony MacAlpine Collection: The Shrapnel Years (2006) – compilation album
With M.A.R.S. (MacAlpine/Aldridge/Rock/Sarzo)
- Project: Driver (1986)
With Planet X
- Universe (2000)
- Live From Oz (2002)
- MoonBabies (2002)
With CAB
- CAB (2000)
- CAB 2 (2001)
- CAB 4 (2003)
With Devil's Slingshot
- Clinophobia (2007)
With Ring Of Fire
- Burning Live Tokyo (2002)
- Dreamtower (2002)
- Lapse Of Reality (2004)
With Vinnie Moore
- Mind's Eye (1986)
- The Maze (1999)
- Vinnie Moore Collection: The Shrapnel Years (2006)
With Joey Tafolla
- Out Of The Sun (1987)
With Vitalij Kuprij
- VK3 (1999)
With Mark Boals
- Ring Of Fire (2000)
- Edge Of The World (2002)
Trivia
- He played classical piano before he learned to play the guitar.
- He is the grandson of Mary Matilda Winslow, who was the first Black Canadian woman to graduate from the University of New Brunswick.