It’s not common to hear a guitarist mentioned in the same vein as adventurous players like Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane and Cecil Taylor, but Dom Minasi is not your common type of guitarist. Like many highly creative artists, Dom needs a variety of contexts to express the full range of his musical vision by maintaining several separate groups, Born on March 6, 1943 (sharing a birthday with legendary guitarist Wes Montgomery), Dom is a 50-year veteran of the music scene, with a history and scope of activities as varied and jam-packed as his native New York City.
Backing up top singing groups at rock 'n' roll shows, church dances and the like while still in his early teens, Dom has maintained a jazz trio with bass and drums since he was 15 years old. But education has also played a major role in his overall musical activities. “By the time I was 20, I had more than 100 students, but I cut it down to 95 so I could play six nights a week.”
A lot of those nights were spent backing up, and providing musical direction for vocalists, something that Dom has continued to do since 1964 and almost exclusively until 1973, when his own trio began to really take shape, coming to the attention of George Butler who had taken the reins at Blue Note from the label's visionary founder and producer, Alfred Lion. After recording two albums for Blue Note, When Joanna Loved Me and I Have The Feeling I’ve Been Here Before, Dom felt the business of Jazz was not for him So from 1976-1993, Dom involved himself in a variety of pursuits such as freelancing, recording dates as a sideman, and occasionally performing with the late, great pianist Dennis Moorman and his organ quartet featuring Dr. Lonnie Smith. Composing the music for a variety of off-Broadway shows, authoring three books for Sunrise Artistries, two books on jazz theory and chord substitution and one on improvising. Returning to school where he studied with Academy Award-winning (The Red Violin) composer John Corigliano at Lehman College, receiving his degree in composition in 1990.
He also composed over 300 vocal and instrumental compositions during those years, as well as creating Literacy Through Songwriting Workshops for grades one through six for the New York City Board of Ed. Fellow musicians kept trying to get Dom more involved with the regular scene but he continued to resist. “I’m happy. I do my workshops with the kids. I’m doing great. Why do I need the aggravation?” was his general response. But finally in 1993 he began to take an interest again, becoming principal composer for the Manhattan Improvisational Chamber Ensemble (MICE) and began to work on various projects of his own. By1996, he was in the thick of it, but entirely on his own terms.
That includes recording his own critically acclaimed album Finishing Touches and Dialing Privileges, co-led with Blaise Siwula & John Bollinger both for CIMP Records. Arranging all the music for the 1997 revival of Torch Song Trilogy; writing his fourth and fifth books The Singer’s Guide to Reading Rhythms and A Guitarist Ultimate Guide To Chord Construction and Substitution and publishing over one hundred new songs.
Deciding to keep total control over his career and what he musically produces, Dom and his wife, vocalist Carol Mennie formed CDM Records and CDM, Inc. (Can Do More, Inc.) a not-for profit organization where Dom is president and Artistic Director and Carol is Vice President and Assistant Artistic Director. CDM, Inc.’s mission statement is to promote music & theatre activities within the educational systems of public schools and colleges throughout the United States.
His 2001 CDM release, Takin' The Duke Out, recorded Live at the Knitting Factory in New York City, featuring fresh interpretations of classic Ellington compositions, took the jazz community by storm and caused such a controversy that critics and musicians alike are still talking about it. Goin' Out Again followed in 2002 focusing on a combination of originals and jazz classics, also receiving enormous critical acclaim.
Again in 2003, CDM released Time Will Tell, DDT + 2, with cellist Tomas Ulrich and bassist Ken Filiano, augmented by John Bollinger on drums and vocalist Carol Mennie, which caused huge ripples in the pond of progressive music, showing the gentler, but no less provocative side of this extraordinary guitarist/composer. Staying on top up the crest, Dom’s 2004 release, Quick Response (CDM1005) was herald as one of the best recordings of that season. Topping it off, on the same day, CDM Records released Carol Mennie’s debut album I’m Not A Sometime Thing, an exciting project very close to Dom & Carol’s heart. This record was produced and arranged by Dom and to show the expansiveness of Minasi’s talent, Dom also played on and wrote all’s the arrangements and the music and lyrics to five of the songs.
Inspired by Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, Dom Minasi’s 2006 release, and considered by many his most adventurous outing since CDM Records came into existence, The Vampire’s Revenge is a double disc set of original through composed pieces. Using his trio, with bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Jackson Krall as an anchor, this record has an amazing cast of guest artists throughout the CD. Musicians such as: Joe McPhee, Matthew Shipp, Steve Swell, Borah Bergman and Perry Robinson are among the twenty two musicians on this recording. Some of the tracks have up to thirteen musicians and are conducted by Byron Olson, a long time associate of Dom’s from his Blue Note days. His September 2007 recording, The Jon Hemmersam*Dom Minasi Quartet featuring Ken Filiano (bass) and Kresten Osgood (drums) is a collaboration of two guitarists from two different continents. Jon and Kresten live in Denmark. This record is a fusion of American and European original jazz played from an’ inside an' out’ approach.
In April 2009 Dom recorded for, reKonstruKt, Records, The Dom Minasi String Quartet’s Dissonance Makes The Heart Grow Fonder which was later release on Konnex Records, featuring Dom on nylon string guitar, Jason Kao Hwang (violin), Tomas Ulrich (cello) and Ken Filiano (contrabass) is again another musical direction and a totally different sound. This group is a real combination of contemporary 21st century composition coupled with modern improvisation. Six months later in April 2010 reKonstruKt, Records released Blaise Siwula * Dom Minasi 'Live' At The Matt Bevel Institute followed by The Dom Minasi Sextet’s The Bird, The Girl and The Donkey- and in September 2011 reKonstruKt, Records released Dom’s first solo recording, Looking Our Looking In. It should be noted since Dom Minasi’s returned to recording as a leader, all his records for the last ten years have made the top ten charts of many jazz journalists throughout the USA, Canada and Europe.
Over his long career, Dom has worked with countless heavyweights, crossing all styles of Jazz. He’s performed in venues ranging from top jazz clubs to Carnegie Hall, The Montreal Jazz Festival to the White House for President Bill Clinton, but it’s musical expansion and personal growth that are his principal motivations “It’s all about expression, learning and growth, whether it be in music or in life and to share what we learn and give back without expectations.”
And in true keeping with the most fundamental aspect of the great jazz tradition, Dom Minasi continues to explore and discover new ideas in pursuit of his true and most personal musical vision.
Gear
Carlo Greco Custom Archtop, D'Aria Custom D'Aquisto Centura Archtop, Eastman Archtop, An Epiphone double pickup Archtop 2 Steel String Flat top acoustics by Takemine , 1 Takemine 12 string, 1 Gianni 12 string, 1 Grodin Electric Nylon String, One Seaman and one Guild nylon string guitars, 1- 335,
2 Polytone amps, 1 Vox amp, I Fender Blues and One Lunchbox amp and various pedals
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