Josh Workman began playing guitar at age 10 and by age 13 he was out performing in San Francisco's infamous North Beach into the wee hours of the morning. After graduating from high school at the School of the Arts, he attended Berklee School of Music in Boston. A year later at age 19, Josh left to finish his studies at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. His mentors there included Gene Bertoncini, Jim Hall and Vic Juris. He began transcribing the music of John Abercrombie for German publisher, Advance Music. This led to a 5-year stint as house transcriber for Warner Bros., Hal Leonard and other publishers. Also during this time, he recorded and performed with D'Vash, The Jazz Passengers (featuring Deborah Harry of Blondie) and offshoots of the Groove Collective.
Soon after his return to the Bay Area in 1995, Josh joined the renowned jump-swing band, Indigo Swing. During this period he honed in on the guitar styles of T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and Tiny Grimes. During the neo-swing craze of the late 1990s, Indigo Swing was regarded as one of the bands leading the pack, touring internationally and performing 250-300 dates per year. They hit the road with Brian Setzer and his orchestra in support of his double platinum release The Dirty Boogie in both the states and Europe. Indigo Swing headlined many festivals around the globe such as the Stuttgart Jazz Festival in Germany along side Rosemary Clooney and Lionel Hampton. The group also enjoyed some mainstream success, selling well over 100,000 CDs domestically.
In September of 2004, while touring as a member of the Hot Club of San Francisco, Josh's debut CD Jumpin' At The Border hit the shelves, furthering his growing reputation as a bandleader.
Aside from leading his own group, Josh continues to be in-demand as a sideman; he tours with actress/vocalist Lynda Carter, and performs/records with many noteable jazz musicians including pianist Larry Vuckovich, Harold Jones (of the Count Basie Orchestra), drummer Akira Tana, vocalists Kim Nalley, Jamie Davis, and the legendary Jon Hendricks just to name a few. In addition to his busy performance schedule, Josh writes for Guitar Player Magazine.
Partial Discography
1994 Groove Thing: Adventure (Guitar)
1994 Jazz Passengers: In Love (Guitar)
1997 Last of the International Playboys: Last of the Int.'l Playboys (Guitar)
1997 Groove Thing with Bill Ware: This Is No Time (Guitar)
1998 Indigo Swing: All Aboard (Guitar)
1998 Last of the International Playboys: Vegas Jazz & Latin Lounge (Guitar)
1999 Indigo Swing: Red Light! (Guitar)
2000 Damien: Intercambio (Guitar)
2000 Larry Vuckovich: Young at Heart (Guitar)
2001 Johnny Boyd: Last Word In... (Guitar)
2004 Josh Workman: Jumpin' at the Border (Guitar, Producer)
2004 Sam Miltich & The Clearwater Hot Club: May Rain (Rhythm Guitar)
2004 Larry Vuckovich: Reunion With Jon Hendricks (Guitar)
2005 Hot Club of San Francisco: Postcards from Gypsyland (Rhythm Guitar)
