Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 by core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Blending elements of rock, jazz, latin music, R&B, blues and sophisticated studio production with cryptic and ironic lyrics, the band enjoyed critical and commercial success starting from the early 1970s until breaking up in 1981. Initially the band had a core lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired the band from live performances altogether to become a studio-only band, opting to record with a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies".
Steven Lee Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto from its founding in 1976 to the present day. A prolific session musician, Lukather has recorded guitar tracks for more than 1,500 albums representing a broad array of artists and genres. He has also contributed to albums and hit singles as a songwriter, arranger and producer. Most notably, Lukather played guitar on Boz Scaggs' albums Down Two Then Left (1977) and Middle Man (1980), and was a prominent contributor to several studio albums by Michael Jackson, including Thriller (1982). Lukather has released seven solo albums, the latest of which, Transition, was released in January 2013.
Toy Dolls are an English punk rock band formed in 1979. Departing from the angry lyrics and music often associated with punk rock, the Toy Dolls worked within the aesthetics of punk to express a sense of fun, with songs such as "Yul Brynner Was a Skinhead", "My Girlfriend's Dad's a Vicar" and "James Bond Lives Down Our Street". There is often alliteration in their song titles. They are probably best known however for their sole UK hit, a punk-rock cover of "Nellie the Elephant".
Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt is a Portuguese-American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He became known as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme. He has also recorded a solo album as well as having founded bands including Mourning Widows, Population 1, DramaGods, and The Satellite Party. In 2007, he also reunited with Extreme to record new music and tour.
Johannes Linstead is a Canadian guitarist and instrumentalist who fuses virtuoso Spanish-style guitar with Afro-Cuban, Middle Eastern, and Latin American percussion and instrumentation. In 2017, Linstead was awarded the "Best World Album of the Year" in the T.I.M.A Awards. He an influential artist endorsement deal with the Yamaha Corporation of America and an endorsee with D'Addario String Co.. Further accolades include being named "Guitarist of the Year" in the prestigious Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards (2007), two NAR Lifestyle Music Awards, a nomination for a Juno Award and others.
Mattias IA Eklundh is a Swedish guitarist and vocalist, known for his work with Freak Kitchen, Jonas Hellborg Trio and Art Metal; he has also produced several noted solo Freak Guitar albums released by Steve Vai and Favored Nations, and holds his annual Freak Guitar Camp in the woods of Sweden every summer for dedicated guitar players from all over the world. He was also prominently featured playing his trademark-style solos on the first four Soilwork albums.
Pierre Bensusan is a French-Algerian acoustic guitarist. As Sephardic Jews, his family came from Spain, Spanish Morocco, and French Algeria. His music has been characterized as Celtic, folk, world music, New-age, and chamber jazz. He has published three books of music and tablature. He plays in DADGAD tuning.
Dylan Lee Howe is an English drummer, bandleader, session musician and composer. The son of guitarist Steve Howe with whom he has sometimes collaborated, Dylan is also noted for his work with rock band the Blockheads, in addition to his own work as a jazz bandleader and prolific session work with a variety of musicians. He was also the brother of musician Virgil Howe.
Matt Bissonette is an American bass player. According to Guitar 9, an online musicianship magazine, he has played bass and other stringed instruments on at least 22 albums, with music styles ranging from jazz, jazz fusion, progressive metal and instrumental rock. Bissonette has played bass with performers such as David Lee Roth (1987–1992), Jeff Lynne and ELO (2001), Ringo Starr (2003–2005), and currently, Elton John (2012–present). He is the brother of drummer Gregg Bissonette.
Steve Soto was an American musician. Soto was a multi-talented instrumentalist, a founding member of California punk rock band Agent Orange in 1979, and a founding member of Adolescents in 1980 performing on bass guitar in both bands. Soto was also a member of Legal Weapon, Joyride, Manic Hispanic and the punk supergroup 22 Jacks. Soto fronted his own band, Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts and he also became a member of Punk Rock Karaoke in 2001.
Gary Husband is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger and producer.
Neil Zaza is an instrumental guitarist who has become well known for his technical accuracy and adaptation of classical works by Bach and Mozart into his own blend of neo-classical, melodic, guitar instrumentals.
DramaGods is a rock band led by Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt.
Steve Weingart is a jazz-funk keyboard player based in Los Angeles, California, United States, who has recorded and performed internationally with an array of well known musical artists.
Eftekasat is an Egyptian jazz band that was established in late 2001 and gave its debut performance in February 2002 at the Cairo Jazz Club. The band has been praised by critics for the melding of different music styles. In 2015 Eftekasat became the resident performing band for Saturday Night Live Arabia.
Alice Stuart is an American blues and folk singer-songwriter and guitarist. She toured the UK with Van Morrison and throughout the United States with Mississippi John Hurt.
Grupo Fantasma is a nine-piece Latin funk orchestra from Austin, Texas.
Jerry González was an American bandleader, trumpeter and percussionist of Puerto Rican descent. Together with his brother, bassist Andy González, he played an important role in the development of Latin jazz during the late 20th century. During the 1970s, both played alongside Eddie Palmieri and in Manny Oquendo's Conjunto Libre, and from 1980 to 2018 they directed The Fort Apache Band. From 2000 to 2018, Jerry González resided in Madrid, where he fronted Los Piratas del Flamenco and El Comando de la Clave. In October 2018, he died of a heart attack after a fire in his home in Madrid.
Artists for Charity - Guitarists 4 the Kids is a compilation album which was produced and arranged by Slang Productions in 2006. Over 18 international artists contributed to the recording project to assist World Vision Canada and their philanthropic efforts.
Beach Slang was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in May 2013. The band underwent several line-up changes, with lead vocalist/guitarist James Alex serving as the band's leader, figurehead, chief songwriter and sole original member.
