GEORDIE KELLY (ASCAP) - JAZZ GUITARIST/COMPOSER/BAND LEADER
Chicago guitarist, Geordie Kelly, has been described as a first-class, gifted guitarist and composer (Vic Juris). He has been privileged to share the stage with artists such as Larry Coryell, Ed Calle, Bobby Shew, Phil DeGreg, Maureen McGovern, Antonio Onorato, Pietro Condorelli and Aldo Farias in Naples, Italy, Frank Mantooth, Bob Bowman, Ritchie Cole, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Virginia Symphony Orchestra, The Turtle Island String Quartet, and Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln City Jazz Orchestra. He was also a founding member and performer with the jazz combo "Skipjack Trio" in The United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C.
Geordie has made one recording under his own name entitled Triple Play, with a second release slated for mid 2017. On this recording, his playing and compositions garnered recognition and respect from other notable jazz guitarists (Jonathan Kreisberg, Vic Juris, Bruce Saunders, Corey Christiansen, Jimmy Bruno, and Steve Abshire) and jazz critics alike (Scott Yanow).
His teaching and academic résumé includes having taught guitar, jazz improvisation, jazz combo performance techniques, and jazz ensemble performance techniques at the Armed Forces School of Music. Selected as a guest clinician, he presented portions of his research on the performance techniques of Joe Pass at the 1997 IAJE Conference in Chicago, Ill. Later that same year, he published a transcription of In a Mellow Tone from Joe Pass' Portraits of Ellington album in Down Beat.
Geordie studied guitar with Jimmy Bruno, and holds music degrees from East Carolina University and the University of Kentucky where he authored a five-chapter Masters Thesis entitled, Joe Pass: Elements in the Construction of Selected Guitar Solos.
He has performed extensively in North America, Europe, Asia, and in parts of Africa. His recording, Triple Play, has met with tremendous success all over the world including Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, South Korea, and Israel.
Recognized internationally as a first-class jazz guitarist and composer, he earned the prestigious honor of being an Endorsement Artist for Heritage Guitars (since 2001).
