Howard Alden
| Howard Alden | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Howard Vincent Alden |
| Born |
October 17, 1958 Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, swing |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Seven-string guitar, tenor banjo |
| Years active | 1973–present |
| Labels | Concord, Arbors, K2B2, Delmark |
| Associated acts | George Van Eps, Dan Barrett, Ken Peplowski |
| Website | howardalden |
Howard Alden (born October 17, 1958) is an American jazz guitarist born in Newport Beach, California. Alden has recorded many albums for Concord Records, including four with seven-string guitar innovator George Van Eps.
Howard Vincent Alden was born in Newport Beach, California on October 17, 1958. He grew up in Huntington Beach, playing piano, harmonica, the four-string tenor guitar, and then four-string banjo at age ten. After hearing recordings of Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and other jazz guitar greats, he got a six-string guitar and started teaching himself to play. As a teenager he played both instruments at venues in the Los Angeles area. He studied guitar with Jimmy Wyble when he was 16. In 1977–78 he studied jazz guitar at the Guitar Institute of Technology (GIT) in Hollywood with Herb Ellis, Joe Pass, and Howard Roberts. At GIT he assisted Roberts in organizing and preparing curriculum materials. Alden then conducted some of his own classes at GIT.
Alden made his first trip to the east coast in the summer of 1979, playing in a trio led by vibraphonist Red Norvo for three months at Resorts International in Atlantic City.
He moved to New York City in 1982 to play an extended engagement at the Café Carlyle with jazz pianist/songwriter Joe Bushkin. Soon afterward, he was discovered by Joe Williams and Woody Herman. In 1983 he was already collaborating with Dick Hyman, when he appeared with him and a host of other musicians at Eubie Blake's one-hundredth birthday concert.
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