John Basile

John Basile

Musicians | Instrument: Guitar | Location: New York City

John Basile’s playing has the essence of great jazz guitar: beautiful tone, marvelous swing, terrific technique, and excellent phrasing. You can’t ask for more!

—JIm Hall

Updated: March 2, 2024

John Basile is an accomplished jazz guitarist and composer known for his soulful melodic playing, sophisticated harmonic sense, and deep conversational approach to improvisation.             

Born and raised in Boston John attended Berklee College and graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music. He honed his skills studying with some of the great jazz guitarists of the era including Jim Hall, Barry Galbraith, and Chuck Wayne.

Moving to NYC in 1985 John has performed and recorded in a wide variety of formats both as a sideman and a leader.

As an accompanist he has worked with Peggy Lee, Sylvia Sims, Rosemary Clooney and Tony Bennett's as well as live and recorded performances with contemporary instrumentalists George Mraz, Michael Becker, Tom Harrell, Eddie Gomez, John Abercrombie and Red Mitchell to name just a few.

Basile has released 11 highly acclaimed solo releases showcasing his prowess as both a composer and player. His latest release "Satisfied", is an organ trio in the tradition of the great guitar/organ combinations in the past

Musically John's guitar style utilizes a finger-style technique that approaches the guitar like a piano, comping chord fragments and playing melodies simultaneously. He demonstrates a conversational approach to improvising by weaving sophisticated single lines above a sparse harmonic landscape - all with a deeply swinging approach.

In addition to his performing and recording career John is a dedicated educator sharing his expertise with aspiring students both privately and in workshops and master classes in the US and in Europe.

In 2019 John created the Springtime Productions studio composing and producing cues for film and television and all media.

Whether's crafting intricate jazz lines, weaving soulful blues melodies John Basile's playing resonates with depth, emotion, and unmatched musicality.

In addition to musical duties John is also an accomplished professional boxing judge having worked world championship bouts in the US, Russia, Mexico, and Australia.


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All About Jazz Articles

211
Album Review

John Basile: Time Will Reveal

Read "Time Will Reveal" reviewed by Jeff Winbush


Set aside, for a moment, the classic venues like the Montreux Jazz Festival and to truly appreciate jazz you have to understand it's not a form of music that was ever intended to be heard in the great outdoors and in football stadiums. To truly groove on jazz it should be listened to indoors. Preferably, in concert halls with superb acoustics and cozy clubs where the musicians can not only be seen, but heard. Which is where guys ...

151
Album Review

John Basile/John Abercrombie: Animations

Read "Animations" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner


When done properly, it’s astounding how much music a duet can generate. It is always especially notable when that duet consists of artists performing on the same instrument. In such a setting, the challenge of blending voices while simultaneously creating distinct, personal lines becomes that much more challenging. Guitarists John Basile and John Abercrombie recently recorded just such a duet, rising masterfully to the occasion. Comprised of eleven tracks including both original compositions and covers, Animations will ...

219
Album Review

John Basile: It Was a Very Good Year

Read "It Was a Very Good Year" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Neo-Ultra-Cool Jazz with a Warm Finish

Guitarist John Basile has been cruising the sideman circuit for the past twenty years, in addition to releasing a handful of respected projects as leader. It Was a Very Good Year finds Mr. Basile with a new label boasting the same sumptuous tone listeners to his earlier recordings have come to expect. Basile achieves a wonderful blend of sound, mood, timber and time with his guitar-organ quartet.

The title track is ...

376
Album Review

John Basile Quartet: The Desmond Project

Read "The Desmond Project" reviewed by Bob Patterson


As the title suggests, this CD is a tribute to the great Cool Jazz saxophonist of Dave Brubeck fame. The music is actually inspired from the Paul Desmond / Jim Hall ensemble of the early 60s. Just as that group created supple, understated music of great beauty, this new aggregation with guitarist John Basile at the helm makes the same eloquent statement.

The group is composed of Basile on guitar, Allen Mezquida on alto, David Finck on bass ...

Read more articles
1

Recording

Guitarist John Basile Releases 'Satisfied' with Gary Versace and Carmen Intorre, Jr.

Guitarist John Basile Releases 'Satisfied' with Gary Versace and Carmen Intorre, Jr.

Source: John Basile

Jazz enthusiasts are in for a treat as the highly-acclaimed jazz guitarist John Basile announces his 11th, much anticipated new release, Satisfied. The project brings together a stellar trio featuring the incomparable Gary Versace on Hammond B3 organ, and driving the rhythm forward is the impeccable Carmen Intorre Jr. on drums. The session features a captivating mix of original compositions and reinterpretations of classic jazz standards, each track meticulously crafted to evoke a full spectrum of emotion. “The chemistry and ...

133

Recording

Guitarist John Basile Releases "Amplitudes" on Stringtime Jazz

Guitarist John Basile Releases "Amplitudes" on Stringtime Jazz

Source: John Basile

Guitarist John Basile returns with a unique solo project featuring multiple guitars in an improvisational journey through a unique selection of material. “In a somewhat strange twist of fate, Amplitudes came about as a direct result of using an iPhone app simply as the sketchpad for the multiple guitar tracks recorded here that hopefully reflect a certain perspective of what jazz guitar is for me. Though initially intended as references for performances with perhaps another guitarist or instrumentalist, the ...

149

412

Contest

Enter the StringTime Jazz "John Basile - No Apologies" Giveaway"

Enter the StringTime Jazz "John Basile - No Apologies" Giveaway"

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the StringTime Jazz “John Basile No Apologies“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on May 20th.

Click here to enter the contest

(Following John Basile at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Good luck! Your Friends at StringTime Jazz

About John Basile and No Apologies

John Basile was born in the Boston area and began playing in local show ...

183

Recording

John Basile New CD Release "No Apologies" on Stringtime Jazz

John Basile New CD Release "No Apologies" on Stringtime Jazz

Source: Lisa Reedy Promotions

Jazz Guitarist John Basile and StringTime Jazz return to the roots and present a soulful organ based collection of standards, originals, latin, and '70s pop tunes in a new CD release entitled No Apologies. “For this project we wanted to approach the music, choice of musicians, and conception totally from an organic, back to basics approach, and work with material that I felt was complete in representing my experience in all styles of music over the years," says guitarist John ...

355

Festival

3rd Anual Peekskill Jazz and Blues Festival

3rd Anual Peekskill Jazz and Blues Festival

Source: PublicEye

Announcing the Third Annual Outdoor Peekskill Jazz & Blues Festival 2009 Saturday, August 8th (rain date August 9th) 5:00 – 10:00 PM Free and Open to the Public Located near Gazebo on Division Street in Downtown Peekskill

Featuring Live Performances by JAZZ and BLUES GREATS:

Fred Smith & John Basile Jazz Quartet Johnny Feds & Da Bluez Boyz David Amram & Friends Duchess Di and the ...

132

Recording

John Basile Releases "Time Will Reveal" on Underhill Jazz

John Basile Releases "Time Will Reveal" on Underhill Jazz

Source: All About Jazz

John Basile and Underhill Jazz present a collection of pop/soul/jazz tunes from the 70's in an acoustic, latin--jazz setting entitled Time Will Reveal. “The 70's produced a huge catalog of music with great melodic and harmonic vehicles that have not been traditionally performed in an improvisational context", states Basile. “We felt that there's a whole wealth of material that was worth exploring here - but in an acoustic jazz setting without the traditional electric bass and synth layering. These songs ...

“John Basile’s playing has the essence of great jazz guitar: beautiful tone, marvelous swing, terrific technique, and excellent phrasing.   You can’t ask for more!" --JIm Hall

Primary Instrument

Guitar

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Artists who share similar musical characteristics to John Basile.

Contact

Publicist

Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

Music

Moon And Sand

From: Heatin' Up
By John Basile

Straight Punches

From: Satisfied
By John Basile

Perugia

From: No Apologies
By John Basile