"If there is one contemporary musician who truly personifies the successful synthesis of the myriad pan-American genres into unconventional and compelling new forms, it is undoubtedly Lima, Peru-born guitarist, composer, and all around music alchemist Richie Zellon" -AMERICAS
BIO
Richie Zellon (guitarist, composer, arranger and educator) was born in Lima, Peru of American and Brazilian parents. In addition to being a graduate of Berklee College of Music he has studied with Charles Banacos, Red Rodney, Pat Martino and Edgar Valcarcel (Peru).
AS ARTIST, in Peru he recorded his first album, "Landologia" in 1982 for the Fonovox label. The recording featured Zellon's unique compositions merging the percussive music of Peru's black population with jazz for the first time resulting in what has become known as Afro-Peruvian Jazz. Legendary American jazz musician, Jimmy Heath who met Zellon during one of his performances in Peru and was intrigued by his unique style, wrote the liner notes. Upon moving to Central Florida in the late 80’s he worked for 3 years as guitarist with the late Jesse Stone (co-founder of Atlantic Records and producer for Ray Charles & many jazz and R&B stars).
Between 1995 and 2000 he produced over 20 internationally critically acclaimed CDs for Songosaurus, an independent record label that introduced new Latin Jazz artists from different countries. During this period he had the opportunity to produce and record with some of the most influential musicians both in the mainstream and latin jazz genres. Among them Grammy winners, Paquito D’ Rivera, Gato Barbieri and Alex Acuna as well as David Leibman, Jerry Bergonzi, Danilo Perez and Ignacio Berroa to name a few. During this period he also appeared in concerts and festivals throughout the US, Europe, Israel and Latin America in the company of such musicians as Sam Rivers, Carlos Averhoff, Richard Drexler, Jeff Berlin, Danny Gotlieb and David Amram. Due to his innovations in the field of jazz and latin music he has been profiled in several books on the history of Latin Jazz such as “Caliente: Una Historia del Jazz Latino” by Luc Delanoy and “El Diccionario de Latin Jazz” by Nat Chediak and “The Jazz Guitar: Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1900” by Maurice J. Summerfield.
AS WRITER & ETHNOMUSICOLOGIST, since 1999 he has published a column on latin jazz for Jazz Inside magazine (formerly Jazz Improv). His ongoing research on the music of various Latin American cultures and their fusion with contemporary music has been a sought after topic by musicians at clinics and workshops.
AS MUSIC EDUCATOR he has held teaching positions as professor of jazz guitar at Florida International University (Miami) the University of South Florida (Tampa) The Music Workshop (Orlando) and Miami Jazz Guitar. He has offered clinics on jazz and Latin American music at various prestigious schools such as the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Jacksonville University and the University of South Florida. In addition he is one of the first Suzuki guitar teachers and throughout the years has adapted various principles of this method to teach children not only classical guitar but also rock, blues and even jazz!
Richie Zellon is a proud endorser of
Moll archtop guitars made in the USA
and
