Steve Vai, So Much More Than a Guitar Player
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Here at happynewguitarday.com, we have decided to take a guitarist every so often and give a little information about them. Let’s start with Steve Vai!
Steve Vai is a multi-talented Italian-American rock guitar virtuoso born in New York in 1960. He is also an accomplished songwriter, producer and actor as well as a philanthropist, dedicated to advancing the musical education of the youth of America.
Growing up on a steady diet of progressive rock, Vai lists jazz fusion artist Allan Holdsworth, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Jeff Beck among his musical influences. His quirky and technically advanced style is attributed to his extensive knowledge of music theory and his compositions have often been described as lyrical and melodic.
He began his professional career working for the legendary Frank Zappa as a music transcriptionist in 1979. Soon after, he performed overdubs on the album “You Are What You Is” and was eventually named a member of the band.
His first tour with the group was in the fall of 1980 and he stayed with them until 1982 when he moved to California.
His solo debut was “Flex-Able,” an album that was independently released in 1984. His prolific career has produced numerous music credits and several albums including his most recent project, “Where the Wild Things Are.” The two hour plus live performance DVD was recorded at the State Theatre in Minneapolis in 2009 and features many new arrangements of his greatest compositions.
Vai has amassed music credits working with a number of artists including David Lee Roth during his post-Van Halen career. He also recorded and toured with the bands Alcatrazz and Whitesnake in the 1980s.
Over the years Vai has lent his talents to numerous projects including work on movie and video game soundtracks. In 2006 he appeared at the Hollywood Bowl for the Video Games Live concert where he played “Halo Theme” and performed in the “Halo 3” world premier trailer.
He made his acting debut in 1986 in the movie “Crossroads” as the demonic Jack Butler. The climax of the film features a guitar shredding duel between Butler and the main character played by Ralph Macchio, whose guitar parts were composed and dubbed by Vai.
Vai has always been driven to create unique sounds and he broke new ground in 2002 when he traveled to Japan to perform with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. The goal for Vai was to learn an impossibly complicated 20-minute guitar concerto called “Fire Strings.” He later called it the most demanding challenge of his musical career.
In 1999, Vai formed Favored Nations, a record label dedicated to highlighting the accomplishments of musicians who are considered to be the best on their chosen instruments. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts on behalf of Little Kids Rock, a charity organization that supplies funding for musical instruction and instruments to public school children all across the USA.
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Posted in: Guitarists
an unsolicited complimentary email from steve vai?
now that is cool!