Frank Gambale

One of the most respected jazz guitarists
of his age, Frank Gambale was born in Canberra, Australia on December 22, 1958.
He started playing guitar as a teenager, aping the popular rock and blues
guitarists of the era. In the late 70s he turned his focus to the piano, and
devoted himself to it for a couple of years before settling back on the guitar
as his primary instrument. After a move to Hollywood he enrolled at the Guitar
Institute of Technology where he established himself by winning Student of the
Year. He promptly began teaching there as well as writing instructional books. In
1986 he issued his debut LP, Brave New Guitar, and then went on tour as
the guitarist for Chick Corea’s Elektric Band. His reputation among guitarists worldwide
quickly escalated, and he won a Grammy for his work on a 1988 live album with
Corea, who has called Gambale the best guitarist he’s ever worked with. He worked
regularly with the jazz outfit Vital Information, and made a series of albums
as a trio with two members of that act, Stuart Hamm and Steve Smith. He made
two major contributions to the world of guitar playing. First was mastery of
sweep picking, a technique that allows for faster play of more notes, and
second was his Gambale Tuning System, a guitar tuning that allows the instrument
to more resemble piano and other instruments.