About Keith Wingate

Keith Wingate executes faster than I can think. I went to a school that valued expression (amp tone, bends, vibrato) over note production, which you can probably still hear. But Keith is a total musician. He understands extended harmony, classic song forms, the rhythmic basis of jazz, and all of that comes out in his solo playing. 

He really is a one man jazz trio: can (and does) gig on guitar, bass, or drums. His right hand is a great drummer by itself, and the rhythm parts he lays down on his looper jump and swing like a band with a good drummer would. His technique and imagination are nonpareil, whether he's playing single note lines, lightning fast arpeggios, bluesy smears, deft octaves, or full on chord melody. 

I never realized that "Autumn Leaves" has the same changes as the "Theme from M*A*S*H" until I heard him interpolate them at the Nobleman Hotel the other night during happy hour. He couldn't play a couple of my requests, but he did play some lush ballads, streamlined blues, smooth bossa (no "Aguas de Marco," but I did get "Wave" to quell my Jobim hunger), "Mo' Betta Blues" (which is by Spike's daddy Bill Lee, not a Marsalis brother like I thought), and Toots Thielmans' "Bluesette," another fave of mine. 

I can understand a _little_ more of what he does now than I used to, but it's always a pleasure to hear him and be amazed at pure six-string artistry.