Geordie F.O. Kelly (ASCAP) - Jazz Guitarist
Geordie Kelly has been described as a "guitar player's guitar player" (iTunes). He has been priveleged to share the stage with people such as Mulgrew Miller, Grady Tate, Ray Codrington, Jiggs Whigham, Ed Calle, Bobby Shew, Von Freeman at the New Apt Lounge on 75th St on the south side of Chicago, Phil DeGreg, Maureen McGovern, Antonio Onorato, Pietro Condorelli and Aldo Farias in Naples, Italy, Frank Mantooth, Bob Bowman, Ritchie Cole, Little Anthony and the Imperials, The Virginia Symphony Orchestra, The Turtle Island String Quartet, and Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln City Jazz Orchestra.
Geordie was a featured soloist on the acclaimed debut recording by the East Carolina University Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Directions 1 (1993), the "DB" award winning University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble entitled Kentucky Kaleidoscope (1996), and has made one recording under his own name entitled Triple Play (2005). On this recording, his playing and compositions garnered recognition and respect from other notable jazz guitarists and jazz critics alike.
His teaching and academic resume includes having taught guitar, jazz improvisation, jazz combo performance techiniques, and jazz ensemble performance techiniques at the Armed Forces School of Music. Selected as a guest clinician, he presented portions of his research on the performance techniques of Joe Pass at the 1997 IAJE Conference in Chicago, Ill. Later that same year, he published a transcription of In a Mellow Tone from Joe Pass' Portraits of Ellington album in DownBeat. Geordie studied guitar with Jimmy Bruno, and holds music degrees from East Carolina University (BM) and the University of Kentucky (MA) where he authored a five-chapter Masters Thesis entitled, Joe Pass: Elements in the Construction of Selected Guitar Solos.
He has performed extensively in North America and Europe, and in parts of Africa. His recording, Triple Play, has met with tremendous success all over the world including Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Spain, Denmark, Sweeden, Norway, Estonia, South Korea, and Israel.
Recognized internationally as a first-class jazz guitarist and composer, he earned the prestigious honor of being an Endorsement Artist for Heritage Guitars (since 2001).