"Family", Christopher Woitach's latest recording, and his first as a leader, is the product of years of honing his playing and compositional style. While studying composition privately with counterpoint master David Borden at Cornell University, Woit [+]"Family", Christopher Woitach's latest recording, and his first as a leader, is the product of years of honing his playing and compositional style. While studying composition privately with counterpoint master David Borden at Cornell University, Woitach developed several compositional techniques that are employed throughout the recording. The first of these is the juxtaposition of Baroque forms, mostly fugues and canons, with improvisatory passages instead of the "free" material that is found between the various statements of the main subject. The other technique used extensively on "Family" is Woitach's method of matching up notes to the alphabet and writing out "words" that have meaning to the subject of the piece, thus creating the melodic and harmonic material that serves as the basis for the piece. While techniques like these have been used for many years, Woitach's particular take on them creates a unique sound when coupled with the high quality jazz musicians who play on "Family".
Christopher Woitach is a jazz guitarist and composer, currently residing in Portland, OR. He plays and composes in a fresh, innovative style that pushes the boundaries of modern jazz while embracing everything from swing to be-bop.
As a player, Woitach has covered a lot of ground, from backing up Rich Little and Bernadette Peters to playing with avant-garde cellist Hank Roberts. He plays throughout the Northwest with the popular swing band The Monarchs, and does several concerts a year with guitarist John Stowell. He performs every year for Bellingham, WA’s Jazz Project in a variety of settings, and is a featured performer/educator for the Blaine Jazz Festival in Blaine, WA.
As a composer, Christopher Woitach combines all his influences with a thoughtful “third-stream” approach. He studied counterpoint with minimalist pioneer David Borden, 20th century composition with Robert Keefe, and jazz guitar with the great Jim Hall. His use of Baroque contrapuntal techniques with modern tonality, combined with extensive improvisatory passages, shows the influence these musicians had on Woitach’s work.
Christopher Woitach teaches jazz guitar at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR, where he leads the WOU Guitar Ensemble and performs with the WOU Faculty Jazztet, known
|
 |
Genre/Tags: 
Ringtones
Full Tracks
