Rob Sbar

NAME: Rob Sbar

PLAYING (YEARS): Since consciousness

STYLE: A blend of rock, modern, and avant-garde jazz and fusion along with contemporary chromatic and post-tonal forms, resulting in some form of progressive rock/fusion.

GEAR: Guitars- Tom Anderson Drop-Top, Ibanez RG series, Fender Stratocaster Amps-Mesa/Boogie Mark IV, Marshall JMP-1 Preamp, Mesa/Boogie 290 Power Amp, Marshall 2000 DSL head, Bruno custom amp Effects – Eventide H3000-D/SE Ultra-Harmonizer, Rocktron Intellifex On-line, Morley Bad Horsie, Digitech Whammy Pedal, Boss DS-1 Distortion, Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9

ENDORSEMENTS: Pending

PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS: My commissions have included composing, conducting, and performing the music for a modern dance presentation in collaboration with celebrated choreographer Julia Ritter. A blend of jazz, classical and contemporary music written for a large ensemble, I conducted and performed on guitar. I also wrote, arranged, and performed original music and lyrics for a United Way advertising campaign that aired on radio and television. I also was commissioned to write a modern composition for Renaissance lute, A Mosaic of Cement and Barbed Wire, performed at the Sarah Lawrence Summer Guitar Institute. My piece, Like Giants Through a Keyhole, trio for flute cello and piano, was performed as part of the CROSS-CURRENTS IN JAZZ AND NEW MUSIC: The School and Schooling of Stefan Wolpe series presented by the Network for New Music in cooperation with the Stefan Wolpe Society. I was selected among an exclusive group of young composers worldwide to participate in the June in Buffalo Festival for Emerging Composers held in Buffalo, New York. There, renowned pianist Marilyn Nonken performed my solo piano piece, Aerial Surveying.

CURRENT & UPCOMING PROJECTS: My group, The Rob Sbar Noesis, just released our debut CD, Wagon Wheels and Atom Bombs on Aggregate Recordings. This project unites the mediums of music, art, and the written word. I will be performing around New York City to support the release.

FAVORITE GUITARIST: Too many to just pick one.

MOST UNDERRATED PLAYERS: Bob Mould (Husker Du)- One of the most innovative songwriters/guitarists of the indie punk movement of the 80s whose work a decade earlier influenced such players as Kurt Cobain, as well as the hordes of Alternative guitarists throughout the 1990s.

BEST MUSICIAN YOU’VE EVER SEEN: Herbie Hancock – Equal parts brilliant technique and creativity David Holtzman – Mind-boggling contemporary classical pianist

FOUR WORDS THAT BEST DESCRIBES WHAT YOU WANT TO GET ACROSS IN YOUR PLAYING: Aural perspectives of multi-dimensionalism

YOUR HERO: Stefan Wolpe (20th-century avant-garde composer)- As an artist, political radical and as an individual, Wolpe stood up for his ideological, political, and philosophical beliefs despite his critics or the popular opinions of the time.

ULTIMATE GOAL: To reveal, establish or create something of lasting artistic value.

CONTACT: Aggregate Recordings aggegaterecordings@hotmail.com Rob Sbar rob@rob-sbar.com

WEBSITE: http://www.rob-sbar.com