Florent Atem (born 24 November 1979) [1] is a French Polynesian guitarist and academic who was the first Tahitian nominated for a Grammy Award. [2] He is the son of educator Felix Atem and brother of academic and musician Carole Atem. [3]
Atem was educated at Raitama primary school, Taaone college, and Lycée Paul-Gauguin. [3] He grew up in a musical environment - his sister played the piano, and his father the ukulele. At the age of 15 he learned to play the guitar. [3] After a year of lessons, he took an internship at the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood in 1997. While performing in America, he was invited to produce an album by music producer John Cuniberti, known for producing several Joe Satriani albums. [3] He received his first Grammy nomination in 2007.
He later completed a master's degree at the University of French Polynesia, [3] and began teaching at the university in 2007. [4] In 2016 he completed a doctoral thesis on the Lewis and Clark Expedition at Aix-Marseille University. [4] He is currently a lecturer in English and Anglo-Saxon languages and literature at UPF. [3]
Atem has been nominated in the Grammy Awards six times, four times with his sister.
Known for Shredder Boy, he is the inventor of the "Slide Picking Technique", developed by him for 15 years. [5]
In 2003, music producer John Cuniberti, said that "Florent is the new Satriani, with a style of his own". [2]
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that reflect characteristics of the human singing voice. It typically involves playing the guitar in the traditional position with the use of a slide fitted on one of the guitarist's fingers. The slide may be a metal or glass tube, such as the neck of a bottle, giving rise to the term bottleneck guitar to describe this type of playing. The strings are typically plucked while the slide is moved over the strings to change the pitch. The guitar may also be placed on the player's lap and played with a hand-held bar.
A steel guitar is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar in that it is played without using frets; conceptually, it is somewhat akin to playing a guitar with one finger. Known for its portamento capabilities, gliding smoothly over every pitch between notes, the instrument can produce a sinuous crying sound and deep vibrato emulating the human singing voice. Typically, the strings are plucked by the fingers of the dominant hand, while the steel tone bar is pressed lightly against the strings and moved by the opposite hand.
Joseph Satriani is an American rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in his career he worked as a guitar instructor, with many of his former students achieving fame, including Steve Vai, Larry LaLonde, Rick Hunolt, Kirk Hammett, Andy Timmons, Charlie Hunter, Kevin Cadogan, and Alex Skolnick. Satriani went on to have a successful solo music career, starting in the mid-1980s. He is a 15-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold over ten million albums, making him the bestselling instrumental rock guitarist of all time.
The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or Lap Slide Guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional acoustic guitar, in which the performer's fingertips press the strings against frets, the pitch of a steel guitar is changed by pressing a polished steel bar against plucked strings. Though the instrument does not have frets, it displays markers that resemble them. Lap steels may differ markedly from one another in external appearance, depending on whether they are acoustic or electric, but in either case, do not have pedals, distinguishing them from pedal steel guitars.
Slack-key guitar is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii. This style of guitar playing involves altering the standard tuning on a guitar from E-A-D-G-B-E, which has been used for centuries, so that strumming across the open strings will then sound a harmonious chord, typically an open major. This requires altering or "slacking" certain strings, which is the origin of the term "slack key". The style typically features an alternating-bass pattern, played by the thumb on the lower two or three strings of the guitar, while the melody is played by the fingers on the three or four highest strings. There are as many as fifty tunings that have been used in this style of playing, and tunings were once guarded fiercely and passed down as family secrets. In the early 20th century, the steel guitar and the ukulele gained wide popularity in America, but the slack-key style remained a folk tradition of family entertainment for Hawaiians until about the 1960s and 1970s during the second Hawaiian renaissance.
Surfing with the Alien is the second studio album by American rock guitarist Joe Satriani. It was released on October 15, 1987, by Relativity Records. The album is one of Satriani's most successful to date and helped establish his reputation as a respected rock guitarist.
The Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists from 2005 to 2011 for quality Hawaiian music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency, and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
Crystal Planet is the seventh studio album by the American guitarist Joe Satriani, released on March 3, 1998, by Epic Records. It was his first album to be released on Epic, whereas his previous six albums were released by Relativity Records. Crystal Planet reached No. 50 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remained on that chart for eight weeks, as well as reaching the top 100 in five other countries. "Ceremony" was released as a single, reaching No. 28 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and featuring Satriani's first recorded use of a seven-string guitar, the Ibanez Universe. "A Train of Angels" was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1999 Grammy Awards, Satriani's ninth nomination.
The Extremist is the fourth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on July 21, 1992, through Relativity Records. The album is one of Satriani's most popular releases and his highest-charting to date, reaching No. 22 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remaining on that chart for 28 weeks, as well as reaching the top 50 in six other countries. Three singles reached Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart: "Summer Song" at No. 5, "Friends" at No. 12 and "Cryin'" at No. 24. The Extremist was certified Gold on December 22, 1992. and received a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards, Satriani's fourth such nomination.
Time Machine is the fifth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on October 13, 1993, through Relativity Records and reissued in 1998 through Epic Records. It is a double-disc album: the first disc contains a selection of new tracks, outtakes and unreleased studio recordings, while the second disc is composed of live recordings from 1988 and 1992.
Flying in a Blue Dream is the third studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on October 30, 1989 through Relativity Records. It is one of Satriani's most popular albums and his second highest-charting release to date, reaching No. 23 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remaining on that chart for 39 weeks, as well as reaching the top 40 in three other countries.
The Electric Joe Satriani: An Anthology is an album by the guitarist Joe Satriani, released in 2003. On two CDs, it consists of a collection of the best of Satriani's electric guitar tracks remastered. It also contains the songs "Slick" and "The Eight Steps", which were previously only available in Japan. It was released exactly the same day as the release of his former student Steve Vai's compilation album The Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology.
Joe Satriani is the sixth studio album by guitarist Joe Satriani, released in October 1995 through Relativity Records. This was his last album for Relativity, as he would switch record labels to Epic for his next eleven albums. Joe Satriani reached No. 51 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remained on that chart for seven weeks, as well as reaching the top 100 in four other countries. "(You're) My World" was released as a single, reaching No. 30 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and receiving a nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1997 Grammy Awards, Satriani's seventh such nomination.
Dreaming #11 is the second EP by guitarist Joe Satriani, released on November 1, 1988 through Relativity Records and reissued on May 27, 1997 through Epic Records. The EP reached No. 42 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and remained on that chart for 26 weeks. Its sole studio track, "The Crush of Love", reached No. 6 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart and was nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the 1990 Grammy Awards; this being Satriani's second such nomination. The remaining three tracks were recorded live as part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour during the Surfing with the Alien (1987) tour. The title track, absent on the EP, would later be released on Satriani's 1993 compilation album Time Machine. Dreaming #11 was certified Gold on August 15, 1991.
Dennis David Kahekilimamaoikalanikeha Kamakahi was a Hawaiian slack key guitarist, recording artist, music composer, and Christian minister. He was a three-time Grammy Award winner, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.
Daniel Ho is an American musician, composer and producer specializing in innovative approaches to slack-key guitar, ukulele, and Hawaiian music. He has recorded 18 solo albums, some of which have won or were nominated for Grammy Awards, and has produced over 50 albums.
Makana, born Matthew Swalinkavich, is a slack-key guitar player, singer, and composer.
Common Kings are an American, Hawaiian, and Samoan reggae rock/pop band from Orange County, California. The band's debut album, Lost in Paradise, was nominated for a Grammy Award.
John Cuniberti is an American recording engineer and producer.
Carole Atem is a French Polynesian musician and academic who works as a lecturer in French language and literature at the University of French Polynesia. She is the daughter of educator Felix Atem and sister of academic and musician Florent Atem.