ofer ganor

Ofer Ganor is an accomplished Israeli jazz guitarist who has studied, recorded and played with great jazz masters such as Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, James Moody and others.Born 1970 in Jerusalem, Israel he began his musical studies with private teachers Justin London, Steve Peskoff and Jean Claude Jones. He completed his B.M. from Berklee College of Music while receiving numerous awards and scholarships including the American Israel Cultural Foundation Award, Stephen Hollander Award, Guitar Department Award and a Downbeat Magazine up and coming musicians feature.He continued his studies in a two year program at the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute studying under many famed jazz masters such as Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Jackie Mclean, Jimmy Heath and Jimmy Ponder. As part of the program he has traveled to India to represent the U.S. with his classmates along with Herbie Hancock and played in the King of Thailand’s 60th anniversary celebrations with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. While at the institute he also completed his M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music and received the Gunther Schuller Award.After completing his studies he has moved to New York where he gained experience playing in many clubs and concerts with musicians such as Dwayne Eubanks, Peter Bernstein, Liz Diamond, Avi Leibovich and many others. He has recorded with Ron Carter for his Building Jazz Bass Lines book with an all star rhythm section that included Mulgrew Miller on piano and Lewis Nash on Drums.During that period he has composed music for theatrical productions of Tempest and The Golem at Yale University as well as a film score for Caves of the Mind. He also played on the soundtrack for the feature film Hugo Pool composed by Danilo Perez.In 2000 he returned to Israel and has worked with many local artists and has spent time teaching and passing on his knowledge and experience to a younger generation of musicians. He has given master classes in Israel, Cyprus and France and accompanied visiting jazz artists such as Jim Rotondi and Peter Bernstein.Ofer Ganor has recorded his debut Cd as a solo artist Solo Guitar featuring his original compositions for guitar and has two projects soon to be out. The first, a marvelous performance of a duet with pianist Omri Mor at the 2006 Tel Aviv Jazz Festival soon to be released, the other a quartet recording with Willie Jones III on drums Aaron Goldberg on Piano and Yonatan Levi on bass.