Gary Lee Joyner, Juan Ramón Caro, Paco de Lucia, Juan Gomez "Chicuelo," Vicente Amigo, Mike Stern, The Brecker Brothers, Leo Kottke, Bill Frisell, Miles, Coltrane, Oregon, Ralph Towner, John Mclaughlin, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock
Since debuting his compositions at a Minneapolis coffeehouse at age 12, guitarist Ben Abrahamson has made steady waves in the Twin Cities with his virtuosity and mature instrumental writing. By 14, Ben had recorded and released three full-length CDs of original compositions. He has performed throughout the Twin Cities and beyond at variety of venues including the Dakota Jazz Club, Orchestra Hall, the Southern Theater, Rossi’s Blue Star, Loring Pasta Bar, Northrop Auditorium, Sundin Music Hall, Kare 11 TV, KFAI Radio, Café Maude, the Kitty Cat Klub, the Riverview Wine Bar, and the Acadia Cafe; Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN; University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire Jazz Festival; and 169 Bar in NYC.
In 2007, Ben’s passion for flamenco guitar drove him to Barcelona, Spain, where he studied under Catalan virtuoso Juan Ramón Caro at Taller de Músics school of music. A Macalester College graduate in music, Ben has studied with such disparate mentors as jazz educator Joan Griffith, flamenco pioneer Michael Hauser, and guitar iconoclast Gary Lee Joyner. He has also attended master classes by renown flamenco guitarist Pedro Cortes, Jr. and Grammy-winning composer Maria Schneider. Ben was named Outstanding Soloist at the 2006 UWEC Jazz Festival and was a favorite at the Minnesota Guitar Society 2009 Flamenco Guitarathon.
Benjamin, great seeing you last weekend !.....love the new page...and it downloads immediately on my old computer !.,........ok, my friend, stay in touch, Tomas
oh cool man! yeah i definitely know loe. we both sang a cappella ( i was in the all guys group, the bandersnatchers). back then, most of the people who sang a cappella were friendly at least. i heard that stuff a while ago. it's great. you're doing your own stuff now though i see?
yeah, for sure. you're on the date. what were you thinking about doing? solo? combo? improv? if you wanted an improv set, i play congas/bongos, and i know a few upright bassists, a killer violinist, brass, reeds, etc. whatever you want to do. you probably have people you work with anyway. it's a good gig to be adventurous on, since the majority of the crowd that shows on mfms series nights can handle challenging music. in fact, i'm sure they expect it on some level.
I found you from a cold and dry western pacific connection! what you'd want to wear the next time you play your guitar. How is your summer shaping up?? //NiK
I spoke too soon in my last post and we booked a last minute gig this Wednesday July 1st @ The Artist's Quarter. Here are the details of when we play and the other bands playing.
9:00pm - ZEB CRUIKSHANK BAND (Zeb Cruikshank: guitar / Dan Musselman: piano / Brent Wallace: bass / Zach Schmidt: drums)
10:00pm - INGO BETHKE - (Geoff Senn: trumpet / Shilad Sen: sax / Stefan Kac: tuba / Steve Gilbertson: piano / me: bass / Nick Zielinski: drums
Ben... Ben I'm trying to write you a myspace message but... I can't see the screen, my... I just listened to the live track and my face is melting....SPCOiafdphkjadhf
