About Geoff
Geoff Reecer is a jazz guitarist from the Washington DC area. He earned his degree from the University of
Maryland in College Park, MD in 1994. It was a degree entitled Music/Business that the school allowed him to design himself, under the supervision of Ron Elliston an Associate piano professor , who was a jazz musician. During his time at UMD Geoff studied concurrently with Paul Bollenback, a wonderful jazz guitarist from New York who was living in the DC area at the time. “Paul was an excellent teacher. He was (and is) a true virtuoso who had a wealth of knowledge that seemed to me at the time to be inexhaustible. This was very inspiring to me. Also, Paul and Ron both had quite different approaches to both playing and teaching, and I benefited from both, as well as from the contrast between the two. Ron was a unique teacher who emphasized, above all, LISTENING, not just externally, but internally as well. He inspired a certain sensitivity, and an approach to music where the desire for technique was placed in perspective, and never sought as something separate from it’s function, which is to serve one’s intuitive musical instincts.”
In 1993, while still enrolled at UMD, Geoff won First Place in the Fish Middleton”s Jazz Scholarship’s Emerging Jazz Artist competition, which took place at the East Coast Jazz Festival that year. After completing his degree, Geoff was able to use some the money from the scholarship to study with his musical hero, guitarist Jim Hall. “In my lessons with Jim Hall, he emphasized things like: clarity and development of musical ideas, shape, structure and form, and delivering a melody with conviction. I was also able to ask him specific questions about his compositions and recorded performances.”
In addition to continuing his studies after college with Jim Hall, and others such as legendary jazz educator Charlie Banacos, and local guitarists Paul Wingo and Steve Abshire, Geoff began paying a lot of dues as a performer. “It was slow going at first. Then it seemed that for years my calendar was always full. I played all kinds of gigs just trying to stay a float. From backround/tuxedo type gigs, to jazz clubs, to weddings, small concerts, etc. I was always busy. I remember once working in five gigs on the same day! Many of these gigs were hard, but I do believe they helped me grow. Over time, a certain level of balance was achieved, and it seemed that more and more rewarding musical experiences were coming my way more and more often.”
As time passed, Geoff had the opportunity to perform with many of his favorite local jazz musicians with an increasing level of frequency. “I was finding myself on gigs, more and more often, with great musicians from this area such as: Mike Smith, Harry Appelman, Tommy Cecil, Tony Martucci, Tom Baldwin, Marty Morrison, Lyle Link, Eric Harper, Domonic Smith, Bill Heid, Gavin Fallow, Mike Noonan, John Pineda, Jeff Antoniuk, and many others. Victor Dvoskin, a great bassist from Russia began to include me in his schedule at his gig at the Tabard Inn. Some of these musicians thought I was new in town after I had been at it for years as it seemed it took me a while to work my way into their company.”
After a few more years of balancing an increasingly busy freelance schedule, Geoff learned of an opening for a guitarist with the “Airmen of Note”, the premiere jazz band of the United States Air Force. “ Being from the DC area, I had met many of the musicians from the various pemiere military bands in the area, on freelance gigs. When bassist Victor Dvoskin recommended the Airmen of Note’s jazz trumpeter Tim Leheay for a quartet gig I was leading, Tim encouraged me to consider auditioning for the band. At that time my wife and I were just starting a family, and being already established in the area, it seemed like a natural progression.”
Since joining the “Airmen of Note” in 2004, Geoff has widened his realm of musical experiences to include a duet in concert with the great bassist Ron Carter, and a duet in concert with the legendary saxaphonist and composer Bob Mintzer. He has also performed in concert with Phil Woods, Slide Hampton, Eddie Daniels, Nicholas Payton, Peter Erskin, Paquito De Rivera, and another of his musical heroes: guitarist Pat Martino!
“Being a huge fan of Jim Hall and, in particular, his great duet recordings with Ron Carter, I was absolutely thrilled at the opportunity to play with him! I had been playing some of their arrangements with great bassists in the DC area for years, so I felt somewhat prepared for the opportunity.”
Currently, Geoff continues to balance his duties with the Airmen of Note with some freelancing and private teaching.. “My goals include meeting my current obligations with the necessary care and professionalism, while at the same time, trying to remain open and accessible to the depth of musical and human experience.”