Reg Schwager

06/28/99

To hear Schwager in action, listen to a Real Audio clip of his tune Snow Pea, or his composition Bay Street Bounce. Plus, as a special feature, the entire Bay Street Bounce Mp3 (6 megs) is freely available for download directly from About.com! (©rant1997 - all rights reserved)

Guitarist Reg Schwager is one of Canada's premiere musicians. Already a mainstay on the Toronto jazz scene by his late teens, Schwager made a name for himself by appearing with travelling musicians like Chet Baker, Pepper Adams, and J.R. Monterose. What attracted such high profile musicians to Schwager's guitar playing was, in addition to his quiet, humble demeanor, his embracing of the tradition of jazz guitar (there is little trace of any rock music influence in Schwager's style) without sounding anything like one of the glut of George Benson or Kenny Burrell imitators. Even from a very young age, Schwager was one of the few guitarists who combined rather unusual technical mannerisms (his right hand technique is dominated by a large percentage of downstrokes) with a wholly original harmonic approach.

In the process of carving out a place for himself in the Toronto jazz scene, Schwager became involved in the small, family-operated label Rant Records, releasing several recordings for them. His most recent, Border Town, has received high praise from local critics. Many of his earlier works, such as the 1985 Justin Time release Resonance, also received rave reviews.

In addition to being the current guitarist in legendary pianist George Shearing's group, Schwager is also temporarily filling Russell Malone's chair in the Diana Krall trio. I managed to take a few moments out of Schwager's bustling schedule recently, in order to ask him a few questions:

The Interview....

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