Charlie Apicella & Iron City

Charlie Apicella was voted onto the 84th annual DownBeat Readers Poll. He has performed concerts and recorded with jazz legends Dave Holland, Sonny Fortune, and John Blake, Jr. as well as contemporary masters Joe Magnarelli, Vic Juris, Dave Stryker, and Don Braden. In 2014 he was invited by Pat Martino to study improvisation, composition, and Pat’s unique method for learning the mechanics of the guitar. Charlie began his music training in 1999 at the University of Massachusetts studying composition and improvisation with Yusef Lateef and music history with Archie Shepp. * * * Charlie Apicella is an Eastman Guitars Featured Artist a Guild Guitars Sponsored Artist and a ZT Amplifiers Official Artist. He teaches an online TrueFire guitar school, Charlie Apicella’s Solid Guitar. He has published two DownBeat Woodshed masterclass lessons and a lesson for Just Jazz Guitar magazine. * * * “A deeply melodic guitarist along the lines of Grant Green. Apicella faithfully has sought to channel an era of American music when hard-bop and r&b reigned…But the guitarist still manages to keep things fresh.” MATTHEW KASSEL, DownBeat "As a player, Apicella immediately brings to mind Grant Green. He’s funky, he’s bluesy, and he’s not afraid to get dirty at times. Apicella and band have that perfect jazz rapport that allows them to be tight as hell and play off each other beautifully." JOHN HEIDT, Vintage Guitar Magazine