Paul Bollenback - Biography

Guitar master George Benson, a long-time supporter, has described Bollenback’s work as ". . . bona-fide playing, unambiguous, up-front and powerful," calling him “a versatile dynamo on guitar.  His approach to jazz and blues has uniqueness unto itself . . ..”.  That comment has special resonance in that Bollenback counts Benson high among his wide range of influences; these also include Carlos Santana, Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, John McLaughlin, Johnny Winter, and Jimi Hendrix (among guitarists), as well as such giants of improvisation and composition as pianists Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans, and saxists Wayne Shorter and John Coltrane.

Born just outside Chicago, Illinois in 1959, Paul Bollenback was raised in the Hastings on Hudson area just outside NYC.  Bollenback got his earliest musical nudge from his father, once a classically trained trumpeter who first provided the 7-year-old son with a nylon-string guitar – and then provided a new world of inspiration.  The elder Bollenback, musician turned scientist, relocated the family from New York to New Delhi, India when Paul was 11, and it was there that he cultivated a life-long interest in exotic musical sounds and timbres that remain evident in even his most jazz-based work.  When the family returned to New York, Paul's father bought him an electric guitar and, like just about every other young guitarist in the 60s and 70s, Paul started gigging in local rock-and-roll bands – until he heard Miles Davis for the first time, which refocused his energies into jazz fusion. 

Relocating again in 1975, from New York to Washington, DC, Bollenback continued to study and perform both straight-ahead jazz and fusion.  He majored in music at the University of Miami, then studied for eight years with Baltimore-based professor of Theory/Composition Asher Zlotnik.  In 1987 he made his recording debut on saxophonist Gary Thomas’s Seventh Quadrant (Enja), and in 1990 established a working relationship with the young organ legend Joey DeFrancesco, an association that lasted has lasted to this day and produced 14 plus recordings.

In 1991 Bollenback’s compositions "Wookies' Revenge" and "Romancin' the Moon" (featured on DeFrancesco's album Reboppin') were honored by SESAC with that organization’s award for original composition.  In 1993, a grant from the Virginia Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts resulted in the composition "New Music for Three Jazz Guitars."  In 1997, Bollenback was named Musician of the Year at the Washington Area Music Awards.  That year he returned to New York City, where he now lives.

Bollenback debuted as a leader with Original Visions (Challenge), and his sophomore effort, Double Gemini, was named “CD of The Month” by both 20^th-Century Guitar Magazine and WBGO Jazz Radio.  His 3^rd release on Challenge, Soul Grooves, was named “Best Contemporary Jazz Album of 1999” by ‘Ndigo Magazine.  He has appeared on the Tonight Show, Good Morning America, the Today Show, and Entertainment Tonight, and has played with an impressive spectrum of musicians, including Joey De Francesco, Steve Gadd, Gary Bartz, Paul Bley, Charlie Byrd, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Herb Ellis, Geoffrey Keezer, Joe Locke, Jack McDuff, James Moody, David “Fathead” Newman, Houston Person, Jim Snidero, Greg Osby, Grady Tate, Stanley Turrentine, and Jeff “Tain” Watts, Tim Garland, Sandip Burman, Carol Sloane and Chris McNulty.

Bollenback's last two releases "Brightness of Being" (ED4548) & "Invocation" (ED4550)  remained on the USA Jazz Week charts for several months this past 2007 and 2008 consecutively. As first call guitarist for such jazz greats as Joey de Francesco, Gary Bartz and Steve Gadd, Bollenback's range and impressive discography speak for themselves. "Invocation" was voted onto Downbeat's Top 100 releases of 2008 and received wide critical acclaim in the international press garnering 4 and 5 star reviews in Jazz Times Magazine among others.

Bollenback also shares executive and co-producing credits with his wife, vocalist-composer Chris McNulty, on her albums Dance Delicioso and Whispers the Heart (Elefant Dreams). Bollenback maintains a steady international touring schedule and is a current member of Joey De Francesco’s organ trio and Steve Gadd & Friends. He also tours regularly as a leader and with his wife, Chris McNulty.

Paul Bollenback has resided in NYC since 1997.