Australian Jazz Guitarist Charlie Lees

jazz guitar | guitar lessons | gympie

Australian Jazz Guitarist Charlie Lees (Charles Anton Lees) was born in Mosman N.S.W in 1913. Prior to settling into music Charlie travelled the world with his parents. Eventually at the age of fifteen he settled in New Zealand, spent a few years in college eventually leaving to study music

Charlie moved to Sydney, Australia in the early 1930’s after five frustrating months in Sydney his reputation began to spread. Everybody wanted him. Jim Davison and Frank Coughlan (the two biggest names in prewar Australian music) – and several others. Charlie chose to go with Frank Coughlan, one of the great figures in Australian jazz and that was the beginning of his professional career.

He opened at the Sydney Trocadero in Coughlan’s band on April 3rd, 1936.

Lees was using chromaticism before anyone else in Australia, he had ideas about interrelating keys, playing a key which was not the tonic key, and he voiced interrelating keys, and he voiced chords beyond two or three octaves when everyone else was jamming it all within one octave. Lees played an electrically amplified Gibson Super 400.

The Mike Hayes Guitar Studio, offers jazz guitar lessons covering all styles of jazz guitar playing.

Looking for jazz guitar lessons in Gympie?

Whatever your favorite style of jazz guitar playing you will find something of interest at the Mike Hayes Guitar Studio, located in Gympie, Queensland.

Mike Hayes has been closely associated with the Australian jazz music scene for over 25 years. He has appeared on stage or in workshops with top Australian and international jazz artists such as George Golla, Johnny Nicol, Ed Wilson, Tom Baker, Bob Barnard, Ed Gaston and has recorded with Craig Scott, Allan Turnbull, John Harkins etc.

From Charlie Christain to Django Reinhardt, from Herb Ellis to Barney Kessel, Jim Hall to Lee Ritenour …Mike’s guitar playing and teaching covers them all.

Mike Hayes is a top-level guitar teacher based in Gympie, Queensland Australia who uses the Berklee Guitar Method to teach students to become fully capable guitarists. For more information about Jazz Guitar Lessons via Skype contact Mike here.

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