...or, how I gave up my rock and roll dreams and why music is a kaleidescope.

My brother Danny and I shared a bedroom when we were kids growing up in England. One day, while conducting his experiments with matches, Danny set fire to my electric guitar. It was reduced to smoldering ash in a few minutes and along with it went my dreams of becoming the next Eric Clapton. I was distraught. At that time, like everyone else in England in the '60s, I was listening to Hendrix and Cream and I was obsessed with loud electric guitar.

With the smell of smoke still wafting out of our bedroom, I had to get out of the house to get away from that awful scene. I took my bike and my transistor radio and rode to the park, sat down under a tree, attached my earpiece to my transistor radio and immediately heard Aretha Franklin singing “I Say A Little Prayer”. Now her music had never appealed to me before but somehow on that day, in my very fragile state, her voice just reached out and grabbed me, and I finally understood what soul music was all about.

It was a momentous occasion for me, because at that time I was obsessed with rock music and had little time for any music that didn’t feature loud electric guitar. Other forms of music held little sway for me, but now to my chagrin, as my electric guitar was gone, I was forced to go acoustic. Much to my surprise I started becoming interested in music far more subtle than the head pounding rock that I had become used to. The singer-songwriter era of the early '70s was just starting to blossom and I started listening to the music of Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell, and CSN&Y. The acoustic guitar I heard in the music really started to appeal to me. To complete the transformation, I started a folk group of my own with two friends. This was a far cry from the boy who thought that the first album by Black Sabbath was a musical masterpiece!

So the guitar burning incident may well have saved me from a tawdry life of endless heavy chord bashing and posing with legs set far apart. But more importantly I saw it as a sign to become more aware of the beautiful musical kaleidoscope that was out there. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I could now listen to Mozart on my home turntable, Motown on the radio, and the Mother’s of Invention after school with my friends. I listened to a little jazz as well, but my listening was confined to a handful of British jazz artists, among them the late Dudley Moore. He was a fantastic jazz pianist and his album “The Other Side of Dudley Moore” is still one of my favourite jazz albums of all time. (It was released in England back in the mid '60s.)

My diverse tastes in music have not only stayed with me as I pass through middle age, they have actually got more extreme. Music that I would ridicule in my youth now gets a fair hearing in my new best friend, the iPod. That little gadget is a great equalizer. Frank Sinatra lives quite happily next to Frankie Goes to Hollywood. (The band that was named after him). Jethro Tull has no problem rubbing shoulders with Jodeci, and Mozart has no qualms about living next door to Milli Vanilli. (Yes- Milli Vanilli!)

My eclectic tastes have surprised some people, especially fellow musicians. Phil Collins recently heard that I still love listening to early Genesis. He said, in jest I’m sure “Why is a jazz musician still listening to this stuff!”

Well, I don’t consider myself a jazz musician, just a reformed rock and roller and anyway why not? I loved the music when I was 17 and I love it now. Good music is timeless.

I was on a Smooth Jazz cruise recently and there was a “Q and A” session with some of the musicians. I was asked what music I was currently listening to and without missing a beat I told of sitting on a tour bus for 3 weeks recently listening to nothing but ZZ Top. I got some raised eyebrows for that remark, and that was from my fellow musicians! The feeling I got was that if you are a jazz musician, you have to listen to Miles Davis every day to retain your credentials.

So jazz musicians are only supposed to listen to jazz?

I do listen to jazz, but I also listen to rock and classical and hip-hop and Celtic folk- the list could go on. As a child the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were my favourite artists, not Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. The great tenor sax player Kirk Whalum once remarked to me that he loved the story of how I ended up playing in the jazz world. I was just doing my own thing, being influenced by many forms of popular music, not ever really listening to the jazz greats as a youngster, yet I ended up playing with some seriously talented jazz musicians, such as the legendary Grover Washington Jr. on my “Perfect Moment” CD. This concept still really surprises me, but it goes to show that there are many paths to reaching a musical statement, all equally valid.

Mostly, I’m just a big fan of guitar playing. I grew up in the '60s when the electric guitar was really coming into its own and I remember exactly where I was when I first heard “Purple Haze” by the late great Jimi Hendrix. I’d never heard sounds like that out of my guitar.

Jimmy Page, Joe Pass, Pat Metheny and Eric Clapton have all influenced me greatly along the way. The great English guitarist Albert Lee made me realize that there was a whole world of country music guitar pickin’ to appreciate. George Benson made me see that there was more to guitar playing than E, A, and D.

I only met George once. The conversation went something like this.

George: What did you say your name was?

Me: “Peter White, I’m a big fan of yours”

George: “Oh yeah- I’ve heard your stuff”.

That was it. I was just thrilled to have had a moment of his time. His “Breezin'” album was a huge influence on me and is still one of my favourite albums of all time. The music on that album changed my way of thinking as to how a guitar could dominate a band without the use of distortion and feedback, (something I was very good at!) The music was elegant, melodic and moving, and most of all, effortless. No scrunched up guitar face here folks. In the same way that Aretha could make you shiver without any effort, George did that same thing on guitar.

So thank you George, and also thank you brother Danny, for setting fire to my electric guitar way back when. I’ve long forgiven you, as I now make my living playing acoustic guitar!

I'm currently visiting my sister in New Zealand. In April I embark on a 35 city tour with his musical cohorts Jonathan Butler, Rick Braun and Richard Elliot in a show entitled “Jazz Attack”. I'll definitely be taking an iPod with me.

My pyromaniac brother, Danny, is currently on tour with his band, Matt Bianco, featuring Basia. See: www.mattbianco.com.

All my best,

Peter White