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Born in Manhattan in 1956, Paul grew
up surrounded by music. His mother was a classical singer; his
father was a studio and orchestrial trombonist with eclectic interests
that included jazz. Paul started piano at 5, violin at 9 and then
fell in love with guitar at 12. He studied classical guitar–but
his strongest interests evolved from rock to blues to Django—then,
at 17, he committed himself completely to jazz.
Immersing himself deeply in Wes Montgomery,
he listened to everything Wes recorded, transcribing every solo
that excited him.
After high school he attended the Crane
School of Music at SUNY Potsdam from 1974 to 1976. In addition
to the first rate conservatory, Potsdam had an active jazz scene. Paul
was much in demand and gigged steadily. From 1977 to 1979, Paul
attended New England Conservatory of Music where he first met
Santi. They've been playing together ever since.
Paul moved to New York in 1980, studying
with Gene Bartoncini and Jackie Byard, getting serious about writing
and, of course, playing in great sessions. Hearing a Barden-Powell
record was the start of his deep involvement with Brazilian music.
Through the ’80s Paul became more
and more of a presence in the New York scene, eventually playing
and/or recording with icons like Ron Carter, Sonny Fortune, Eddie
Gomez, Wynton Marsalis, Frank Wess, Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond,
Kenny Werner and the Woody Herman Orchestra.
Because of his remarkably tasteful accompanying,
Paul is in heavy demand amoung singers. He has toured extensively
with stars like Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross, Andy Bey, Susannah
McCorkle and Brazilian Vera Mara.
Paul is on several dozen records, including
three with Andy Bey, four with the N.Y. Guitar Ensemble, three
with Santi Debriano. He has two solo CDs that incorporate a number
of his compositions and, most notably, seven stunning transcriptions
from Bartok's "Mikrokosmos".
(click to enlarge)
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