 |
Howard "Buzz" Feiten II (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. Feiten also manufactures and markets solid-body electric guitars.
Feiten grew up in Huntington Station and Centerport, New York, where he was known by schoolmates and friends as "Buzzy". The son of a musical mother, Pauline (a classical pianist), and an airline pilot, Howard Sr., Feiten received training in classical music as a child. His older sister Paula was a flautist and fashion model in the mid-1960s. A younger brother, Jon, was also involved in music and the arts. In youth, he studied several musical instruments, settling on the French horn. As a teenager, he played in all-county (Suffolk) and all-state (New York) youth orchestras on the instrument.
Feiten first played Carnegie Hall in 1966 on French horn in American Youth Performs. [1] In 1966, he auditioned at the Juilliard School on French horn but was not admitted. In high school he fronted for a group called 'The Reasons Why' with Steve Beckmeier (rhythm guitar), Al Stegmeyer (drums), Danny Horton (lead guitar), and Daniel Kretzer (keyboards). The band was successful on Long Island, and two songs, "Tell Her One More Time" and "Same Old Worries", were mentioned in a Billboard 'new singles' article in the summer of 1966.
Still known as "Buzzy", in late 1968 or early 1969 Feiten was a student at the Mannes College of Music in New York City.
Feiten replaced Elvin Bishop in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, [2] [3] and recorded on the group's fifth album, Keep on Moving . [3] With Butterfield, Feiten toured internationally and played at the Atlantic City Pop Festival and the Woodstock Festival.
In 1970–71, Feiten stepped in as lead guitarist for another well-known Long Island group, The Rascals (formerly 'The Young Rascals') on their albums Peaceful World and Island of Real . His original song 'Jungle Walk', on the latter album, is regarded as a guitar 'tour de force' by fellow musicians, and served as part of the inspiration for David Bowie's and John Lennon's song 'Fame'.[ citation needed ]
His debut 'project' album Full Moon [3] was released in 1972 by Warner Bros. and included band members Neil Larsen, Gene Dinwiddie, Phillip Wilson and Freddie Beckmeier, (brother of Steve from 'The Reasons Why'), with 'sidemen' Ray Barretto, Randy Brecker, Robin Clark, Dave Holland, Airto Moreira, and Tasha Thomas. A 2002 sequel, Buzz Feiten & The New Full Moon also featured Beckmeier on bass, Jai Winding, Brandon Fields, and Gary Mallaber. Another notable 1998-99 Feiten affiliation was with the Dave Weckl Band on the albums Rhythm of the Soul and Synergy.
He has worked with a very wide array of artists including Gregg Allman, The Brecker Brothers, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Michael Franks, Al Jarreau, Rickie Lee Jones, Chaka Khan, Dave Koz, Neil Larsen, Kenny Loggins, Bette Midler, Olivia Newton-John, Wilson Pickett, David Sanborn, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, [4] Etta James, and Don McLean. [5]
Feiten patented a tuning system for guitars, [6] marketed as the Buzz Feiten Tuning System, which is intended to correct problems of the standard equal temperament. The system can be retrofitted by a repair shop or luthier that has paid a licensing fee and received specific training. The system consists of a compensated string nut (or "shelf nut") and a method for intonating the bridge. The system was licensed to Washburn Guitars (1995–2010) and Suhr Guitars.
The tuning system is intended to create more accurate tonality of notes played on the lowest three or four frets. Some guitarists claimed to hear no difference, perhaps attributed to their particular playing style or primary musical genre. A few stated the opinion that, while a BFTS-enhanced guitar was clearly superior when recording alongside electronic keyboards, it generally rendered their tone "sterile" or "thin." Others believe that despite the company's "three or four" frets claim, the system provided marked improvement in accuracy virtually everywhere on the fretboard.
In 2012, Feiten announced the founding of Buzz Feiten Guitars [7] to manufacture and market solid-body electric guitars. The firm initially offered five models, the Blues Pro, T Pro, Signature Elite, Classic Pro, and Elite Pro.
In 2018, the company was renamed Buzz Feiten Guitar Research, and began offering three solid-body models with the brand name 'SuperNova': the 'Classic' (two humbucker pickups), the 'Futura' (bridge humbucker and neck single-coil pickup), and the 'Futura Super-Trem' (three single-coil pickups with synchronized vibrato). The "Buzz Feiten Tuning System" is mentioned only with regard to the Supernova Classic.
With Aretha Franklin
With Rickie Lee Jones
With Neil Larsen
With Jeff Lorber
With Adam Mitchell
With Bill Quateman
With David Sanborn
With Tom Scott
With Dave Weckl
With others
Larry Eugene Carlton is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. One of the most sought after guitarists of his era, Carlton has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorded on hundreds of albums in many genres, including more than 100 gold records, as well as for television and movies. He has been a member of the jazz fusion group the Crusaders and the smooth jazz band Fourplay, and has maintained a long solo career.
Charles Walter Rainey III is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,000 albums, and is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of recorded music.
Rob Mounsey is an American musician, composer, and arranger.
Paul Milton Jackson Jr. is an American fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist.
Anthony Jackson is an American bassist. Described as "one of the masters of the instrument", he has performed as a session musician and live artist. He is also credited with the development of the modern six-string bass, which he refers to as a contrabass guitar.
Victor Stanley Feldman was an English jazz musician who played mainly piano, vibraphone, and percussion. He began performing professionally during childhood, eventually earning acclaim in the UK jazz scene as an adult. Feldman emigrated to the United States in the mid-1950s, where he continued working in jazz and also as a session musician with a variety of pop and rock performers.
Fredrick O. Tackett is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Originally a session player on guitar, mandolin, and trumpet, he is best known as a member of the band Little Feat.
Abraham Laboriel López Sr. is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and of producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo Laboriel.
Will Lee is an American bassist known for his work on the Late Show with David Letterman as part of the CBS Orchestra and before that "The World's Most Dangerous Band" when Letterman hosted the NBC "Late Night" show.
Ralph Anthony MacDonald was an American percussionist, steelpan virtuoso, songwriter, musical arranger, and record producer.
Jerry Hey is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's Thriller, Rock with You, "Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough", "Workin’ Day and Night" and the flugelhorn solo on Dan Fogelberg's hit "Longer". Additionally, he has performed with artists such as George Benson, Nik Kershaw, Al Jarreau, Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Earth, Wind & Fire, Whitney Houston, Frank Sinatra, George Duke, Lionel Richie, Rufus and Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin, Patti Austin, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Yumi Matsutoya, among many others.
Sammy Figueroa is an American percussionist. At 18 he joined the band of bassist Bobby Valentín and also co-led the Brazilian/Latin fusion group Raíces.
Richard Thomas Marotta is an American drummer and percussionist. He has appeared on recordings by leading artists such as Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Paul Simon, John Lennon, Hall & Oates, Stevie Nicks, Wynonna, Roy Orbison, Todd Rundgren, Roberta Flack, Peter Frampton, Quincy Jones, Jackson Browne, Al Kooper, Waylon Jennings, Randy Newman, Kenny G, The Jacksons, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Boz Scaggs, Warren Zevon, and Linda Ronstadt. He is also a composer who created music for the popular television shows Everybody Loves Raymond and Yes, Dear.
This article lists the complete discography of Steve Lukather.
James Edward Gadson is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and songwriter.
Discography of Michael Brecker.
This article lists the known discography of Buzz Feiten.
Neil Larsen is an American jazz keyboardist, musical arranger and composer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Sarasota, Florida before relocating to New York and then, in 1977, Los Angeles.
Joe Chemay is an American bassist and background singer, known for his recording session work.
Paul William Leim is an American drummer and recording session musician based in Nashville.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
