ARTIST PROFILE JAZZMASTER
Quietly, outside of Los Angeles, Steve
Trovato has been leaving blazing guitar everywhere he goes. Currently, he
is a full time instructor in the Studio Jazz
Department at the University of Southern
California. In addition, Steve has found the
time to author over 20 instructional books
for Warner Brothers and Hal Leonard, produce over 50 instructional videos for the
likes of Yngwie Malmsteen and Paul Gilbert,
and has even starred in five of them. His
students have achieved major success and
include Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale,
Paul Gilbert and Norman Brown. He has
performed with Chet Atkins, Albert Lee,
Robben Ford, Jeff Berlin, Jerry Donahue and
Scott Henderson, and contributes to five
international music publications, including
Guitar Player, Guitar One, Axe, Guitar Club,
Guitar World and Chittar, as well as recording for too many studio and motion picture
42 PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2007
projects to list. We caught up with Steve
as he completed his new release, Country
Jazzmaster.
One of the things I have always won-
dered about is who or what influenced
you to start playing guitar?
Well, I think you’ll hear this from a lot of
guys; it was the Beatles. I think I was
six years old, and I had been playing the
piano. I did my piano recital and played
“The Blue Danube Waltz.” Then I saw
the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and I thought,
“Wow, girls never screamed for me playing piano.” So that was it and I started
playing the guitar. That was pretty much it,
and I have never looked back.
Did you come across a single moment
that it finally hit you? This is it, this is
©2007 Gail Seely
what I want to do the rest of my life?
I’ve never been asked that before; that’s a
really good question. I would say that there
were three pivotal moments: one of them
was when I saw the Beatles, the second
was when I heard Chet Atkins for the first
time, and the third was when I was up
on stage and I got a chance to play with
Albert Lee – that was when I really knew
I wanted to do guitar. For some reason
those guys hit me hard – they played melodies – and I always loved the way I could
track it even though it was guitar playing.
It was really very sophisticated. When I
heard Chet Atkins play, I could hear the
melody. Even with all the notes that Albert
Lee plays, I can still keep track of it – that’s
what attracted me. I think since I’ve been
playing, if I have anything, it’s the ability to
play a melody.
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