Stan Samole

A versatile modern guitarist, Stan Samole deserves much more fame than he has gained thus far. He began playing the guitar in his native Chicago when he was 12 and developed so quickly that he was a professional within a year and was recording jingles and gigging locally by the time he was 14. He earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Miami and for a time stayed at the college as coordinator of Jazz Studies; his students included Pat Metheny and Hiram Bullock. Long active as a lecturer and a clinician, Samole was a member of Elements and eventually settled in Toronto, Canada. Through the years he has had opportunities to play with such musicians as Jaco Pastorious, John McLaughlin, Stan Getz and Mel Torme among many others. As a leader he first headed an album for Lotus in 1978 and since has recorded several impressive sessions for the Jazz Inspiration label, starting in 1990.