Paul's first contact with Jazz was as a child when his Grandfather would practice his drums to the recordings of Stan Getz and Dave Brubeck, leaving a lasting impression on him.
"I loved music from the time a was born. I refused to go anywhere without taking my Mother's records. I always knew I would become a musician. I settled on the Guitar after I heard Jimi Hendrix. Previous to this I wanted a Saxophone or a Bass. Hendrix led me to all The King's ( B. B., Albert and Freddy ) and my first jobs were playing Blues, Funk and R&B. I later worked backing many Motown Legends and did sessions with some of the Funk Brothers (Johnny Griffith, Pistol Allen, Joe Hunter) and Motown arranger David Van dePitte. I really wanted to play Jazz after I discovered Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter. My main Jazz influences have not been Guitarists. Other influences include McCoy Tyner, Ravel, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Burt Bacharach and Frank Zappa."
Continuing his education Paul moved to Los Angeles in 1982 and studied with Joe Diorio, Carl Schroeder, Ron Eschete and many others at Musicians Institute (Guitar Institute of Technology). He would later move to Boston and study improvisation with Saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi in 1988.
Paul returned to Detroit in 1990 and immediately started working with many of Detroit's great musicians such as Marcus Belgrave, Harold McKinney, James Carter, David McMurray, Roy Brooks, Straight Ahead, Leonard King and others. He also began leading his own groups featuring musicians such as Bobby Battle, Craig Taborn, Jaribu Shahid, Gerald Cleaver, Marion Hayden, William Evans among others.
During that time, Paul recorded his debut album "Goin' Up" for the Red Car label which was released to enthusiastic reviews. Two additional recordings for Equnioxmansion followed: "Lost Generation"(1998) and "In The Marketplace" (1999).These releases enabled Paul to perform outside of USA including Canada and Europe.
In 1996 Paul began composing for Film and Television. His first project was a short film for Learnshare -a division of Owens Corning and was quickly followed by placement of his compositions in music libraries. This led to his association with Transition Music.
In July 2003, Paul Abler relocated to New York City, where he quickly gained headway in the NYC music scene. Since arriving he has performed and/or recorded with Cindy Blackman, Carlton Holmes, Dwayne Burno, Allen Farnham, Sean Smith, Tomoko Ohno, Chip Jackson, Ugonna Okegwo, Dion Parson, Ted Rosenthal, Daoud David Williams, Calvin Hill, Bradford Hayes, Charles Davis, Michael Cochrane, The Spirit of Life Ensemble and Brazilian vocalist Yashmin Charnet, whom he married in May of 2004.
Paul also started his association with Chesky Records film / TV division - Manhattan Production Music with 2 projects Jazz Trio & Bossa Nova .
His latest CD release is "Fearless" featuring Cindy Blackman, Marion Hayden & Carlton Holmes on the Bossa Nova Music label.
©Melissa
Krastof
the notes don't go to waste.
Detroit Free Press - Mark Stryker
Copyright
© 2005 Paul Abler 