For composer and multi-reed instrumentalist John Gunther, it's all about communication. Whether he is playing solo over one of his own mainstream jazz tunes, or taking it out with a reinterpretation of a 20th century classical composition, his music remains ever accessible, intelligent and audience friendly. His interests are wide-ranging: World, Classical, experimental and Jazz music are all reflected in his work while remaining unified by his personal style and finely developed sense of structure.
"I got that sense of structure from my mother, who is a painter he explains. When I was very young I would look at a group of her paintings and she would ask me how my eye traveled through each one or how light and shadow would feel in relation to each other. I've found the concepts of balance, economy, contrast and contour to be equally important in music. Like the frame of a painting, time is the containing boundary that everything occurs within and the composer or improviser can shape this form or boundary and in a sense the listener's emotions and thoughts. It's a communication that transcends boundaries, and it's exciting when both performers and audience share in that experience together."
John Gunther started playing the saxophone in the third grade. It was love at first sight--and when I broke my arm that summer, I had the doctor set is so that I could continue to practice! He was lucky to find progressive music teachers in his hometown of Aurora, Colorado. They started an after school jazz band that my father enrolled me in and the beginners were immediately taught a blues scale and encouraged to improvise. Later, in High School he was a member of a Big Band that really played out, doing local gigs. We wore gold and pink-sequined jackets, and I would do a solo on Night Train playing alto and tenor saxes simultaneously. I had never heard of Rassan Roland Kirk, and I don't know if my teachers had, either, but it was great experience to be playing that much at a young age.
Eventually, Gunther found his way into the Denver jazz scene. He became a regular visitor to the famed El Chapultapec club, and hooked up with the city's best players. After years of recording, touring and gigging, he moved to New York and began working as an instructor at New York University, freelancing, and delving into the jazz scene. A recipient of both an NEA and a Meet the Composer grant, he has also performed with Dewey Redman, Tom Harrel, Joe Williams, Buddy DeFranco, Ernestine Anderson, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Woody Herman Orchestra, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
John has released five CD's for CIMP records and is co-founder of the group "Spooky Actions" . He's also a long time member of the sextet, "Convergence" .
Currently John lives in Boulder, Colorado where he is an Assistant Professor in Jazz Studies at Colorado University .
