Doug Berry: Bio

When Texas-based jazz guitarist Doug Berry began to study the greats to advance his own skills, he did not limit himself. Instead of looking at only at legendary jazz guitarists like Herb Ellis and Wes Montgomery, Berry looked toward some of jazz’ biggest names, regardless of instrument.

Names like Davis and Coltrane and Rollins and Hancock are among those who had an impact on Berry’s playing style.

“In jazz circles, it seems that guitar players are almost looked at as second class citizens,” he said. “Listening to great jazz recordings, it does seem like saxophone, trumpet, and piano players do seem to have a better command of the music, so my goal was to speak that same language, only as a guitar player.”

Berry bought his first guitar when he was 14 years old, from money made at a summer job loading trucks. But that was hardly Berry’s first dance with a musical instrument.

For nearly a decade previous, from the age of 5 on, he had played a variety of instruments, influenced by a variety of family members. His granddad showed him how to chord a piano, and his uncle gave Berry his first exposure to the guitar.

Along the way, he also picked up the tenor ukulele, and when he was 12, Berry’s parents bought him his own piano, which is where he began to teach himself harmony and songwriting.

But it was the guitar that would steal Berry’s heart. Using the last paycheck from that summer job, he walked into Edison’s department store and bought that very first guitar.

Frustrated by his attempts to form a band with friends from the neighborhood when he realized they didn’t feel the music the same way he did, Berry began seriously writing his own songs. “They didn’t have any instruments, and they just didn’t seem to have the attention span it takes to learn to play,” he lamented.

Berry’s attention span, however, was not a question. He played that first guitar so often, it wore out in less than a year. Seeing his passion, his parents bought him a Gibson 335.

Listening to Burt Bacharach, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, and anything else he could find as he worked his way up and down the FM dial, Berry became almost obsessed with song-writing. He dreamed of making a living as a songwriter, and devoured and attempted to understand nearly any kind of music he came across.

As his songwriting progressed, so did his playing.

Berry worked as a dishwasher at a local barbeque joint because he wanted to add an electric guitar to his collection. Berry’s dedication to his craft was evident in the long days he put in as a teenager. After a full day of school, Berry would head to his job for a 6 hour shift, 4 days a week. And on the weekends, 13 hour days were the norm.

But those 8-months of a hellacious schedule would pay off when Berry got that guitar, and never again did he have a day job that would take away from his passion for music.

When a friend let him know that Stage Band had an opening for a guitar player, Berry quickly signed up, looking forward to the opportunity to play in a big band setting.

But then, on his first day, as the band director pointed at band members to play an improvisational solo, Berry had to waive him off.

Angered by his own inability to play the solo, Berry spent that night studying blues scales, and the next day when he band leader pointed to him, Berry stood up and played a solo that turned every head in the room.

It was at that moment, a jazz guitarist was born. Elated and addicted to the reaction, Berry knew that jamming in front of a crowd is what he was born to do!

Berry also plays the bass, the piano/keyboard, and drums. He’s also proficient in MIDI programming, and is an accomplished composer, arranger, and producer with a library of nearly 350 originals.

He has played in numerous clubs throughout Texas, including the House of Blues, Sambuca (in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio), the Jazz Café, and the legendary Caravan of Dreams. Additionally, he has played with diverse artists from Marchel Ivery to Erykah Badu, and appeared on an episode of Ally McBeal, performing alongside Gloria Gaynor.

His 2004 debut release “Spinning into Control” can be purchased from links on his own website or on CDBaby.com.

Doug is currently hard at work on a new project set for release in early Spring of 2010.