Smooth and Blue guitarist Ken Massey makes his debut as a solo artist with the release of Autumn In Baltimore. Ken shows his maturity in this release by taking the hard edge off of his rock chops and playing a clean jazz guitar style. Encouraged by h [+]Smooth and Blue guitarist Ken Massey makes his debut as a solo artist with the release of Autumn In Baltimore. Ken shows his maturity in this release by taking the hard edge off of his rock chops and playing a clean jazz guitar style. Encouraged by his friend, jazz saxophonist, Abdoulaye Pape N’Diaye, Ken reaches back to his classical roots and uses his nylon string guitar on Billy Dee. He explores his blues based British Invasion influences on Oak Manor, experiments a bit by using a steel string acoustic passed through a jazz chorus on Park Plaza and a more straight ahead jazz style on the title track, Autumn In Baltimore.
While Autumn In Baltimore is his first solo release, Ken is no stranger to the music business. He began his musical career in the late 1960s, while still attending high school. After starting on violin in middle school, he had switched to string bass and eventually electric bass. In 1968 he and a neighbor, Evelyn Kite, had formed a pop band called The Grabbers. In 1969, managed by Evelyn’s dad, The Grabbers were playing regular professional gigs at the Club Vista in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Influenced by the music of guitarists Eric Clapton and Steve Howe, Ken decided to take up the guitar and in 1972 began guitar lessons at the Peabody Preparatory School in Baltimore.
After a tour of duty in the U. S. Navy, Ken became immersed in the world of rock guitar. Playing in the band, Hare Trigger, Ken met singer/songwriter Benny Sudano and in 1978 they laid down tracks at Sheffield Recording Studios in Baltimore. After gigging regularly for a few months, Ken left Hare Trigger to form the band Legacy with drummer Russell Kulp. In 1980, Legacy evolved into the group Hurricane, a real working rock band that played nightly in the area for several years.
Ken’s constantly evolving musical tastes and appetite for exploration would eventually lead him into other areas. The year 1984 found him working as a sideman with singer/songwriter Joe Warren, with whom he recorded and toured nationally.
In 1987 Ken had developed an interest in jazz, which found him studying guitar with local jazz guitar legend Carl Filipiak.
After stints with a number of local pop and rock groups, 1993 found Ken reunited with Benny Sudano who wanted to record
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