Al Gafa

Alexander "Al" Gafa (born April 9, 1941, New York City) is an American jazz guitarist.

Gafa worked extensively as a session musician for recordings in the mid and late 1960s in New York. In jazz idioms, he worked in that decade with Kai Winding, Michel Legrand, Sam Donahue, Duke Pearson, and Carmen McRae. He worked with McRae until 1971, then played in the 1970s with Dizzy Gillespie, Mike Longo, and Yusef Lateef. Gafa put together his own small groups in the decade; his sidemen included Kenny Barron, Ben Brown, Al Foster, Steve LaSpina, Andy LaVerne, Dave Shapiro, and Richard Wyands. He worked with Johnny Hartman from 1978 to 1982 and in the early 1980s with Susannah McCorkle and Joe Albany, Sammy Davis Jr., Sylvia Syms, Morgana King, Shirley Horn.

Discography

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Bahiana
• Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt Quintet Live in Paris & Copenhagen 1974
• Dizzy Gillespie in Brazil with Trio Mocoto'(1973/74)

With Joe Albany

• Portrait of an Artist (Elektra/Musicia, 1982)

With Johnny Hartman

• Once in Every Life (Bee Hive, 1980)

With Carmen McRae

• Just a Little Lovin' (Atlantic Records, 1970)

With Shirley Horn

• Where Are You Going(1972)

With Duke Pearson

• How Insensitive (Blue Note, 1969)
• I Don't Care Who Knows It (Blue Note, 1968-70 [1996])
• The Phantom (Blue Note)

With Larry Willis

• A New Kind of Soul

With Susannah McCorkle

• The People That You Never Get To Love(Concord Records, 1981)
• Let's Face The Music (Concord Records, 1997)
• From Broken Hearts To Blue Skies (Concord Records, 1999)

With Kai Winding

• Dirty Dog

With The Monkees

• The Monkees Greatest Hits

With Alex Leonard

• Down in the Depths

With Paul Simon

• There Goes Rhymin' Simon
• Kodachrome

With Joe Newman

• Sing To The Lord A New Song