John Stowell

For other people named John Stowell, see John Stowell (disambiguation).

John Stowell
John Stowell at a concert in Bad Marienberg, Westerwald, November 2010
Background information
Born	(1950-07-30) July 30, 1950 New York
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1970–present
Labels	Origin
Website	www.johnstowell.com

John F. Stowell (born July 30, 1950) is an American jazz guitarist, composer, author, and lecturer.

Biography

Stowell, who plays electric and acoustic guitar, was born in New York and raised in Connecticut. He had private studies with Linc Chamberland and John Mehegan. Several years later he met bassist David Friesen in New York City. Stowell took a trip to Portland, Oregon, where Friesen lives, and decided to stay. The two formed a duo in 1976 that recorded and toured prolifically for seven years, with performances in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. The duo continues to perform thirty years after their first meeting. In 1983, Stowell and David Friesen joined flutist Paul Horn and Paul's son Robin Horn (on drums) for a tour of the Soviet Union. In 1977 Stowell recorded his debut album Golden Delicious; his sidemen were Jim McNeely, Mike Richmond, and Billy Hart

Stowell teaches internationally. He has been an artist-in-residence at schools in Germany, Indonesia, Argentina, the United States and Canada. He served as assistant director and performer at Oregon Public Broadcasting's PDX Jazz Summit in 1991, and since 1995 has been a contributing columnist for a number of magazines, including Down Beat, Guitar Player, Canadian Musician, Soundcheck (Germany), and Guitar Club (Italy). In Germany, he teaches at Jazz & Rock Schulen Freiburg with Frank Haunschild, with whom he plays regularly. He has also worked with Uwe Kropinski, Dave Liebman, Hiram Mutschler, Gérard Pansanel, Gustavo Assis-Brasil, David Becker, and Nicolao Valiensi. In 2005 he published Jazz Guitar Mastery (book and DVD).

Stowell holds his guitar in a diagonal position, which facilitates playing close, piano-like voicings more comfortably.

Stowell's Through the Listening Glass with David Friesen was chosen Best Jazz Albums of the Decade by the Los Angeles Examiner; he was chosen as a Talent Deserving Wider Recognition by Down Beat 's International Critic's Poll in 1978 and 1979.

Discography

• Golden Delicious (Inner City, 1977)
• Through the Listening Glass (Inner City, 1978) with David Friesen
• Somewhere (Semaphore, 1985)
• Lines and Spaces (GSP, 1992)
• The Banff Sessions (Origin 1998)
• Jazz Duets with Chema Vilchez
• The White Note (Symphonia, 2003)
• Listen to This (Acoustic Music, 2004) with Frank Haunschild
• Resonance (Origin, 2005)
• Elle (Jardis, 2005)
• Summer Nights (Jardis, 2005) with Kelley Shannon
• Swan Tones, Vol. 1 (Soloway, 2005)
• Other Mansions with David Friesen (Inner City, 2008)
• Solitary Tales (Origin, 2009)
• Silent Photographer (Origin, 2011)
• Throop (Origin, 2012)
• Blue Rose (Origin, 2013) with Dave Liebman
• New York Conversations with Kendra Shank (TCB, 2014)

with Michael Zilber

• Shot Through with Beauty (Origin, 2011)
• Live Beauty (Origin, 2015)
• Basement Blues (Origin, 2016)

External links

• Official site
• John Stowell at AllMusic
• Portrait at Doolin Guitars
• Portrait at Origin Records
• Portland Jazz Festival 2005 at All About Jazz
• Excerpts from Jazz Guitar Mastery (2005) at Google Books
• John Stowell Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2002)