Phil deGruy
Solo Guitarpist

Visionary New Orleans native Phil deGruy has taken the bold initiative of adding 10 harp strings to a 7-string guitar to come up with his custom-made ‘guitarp.’ With this unconventional instrument and a highly unorthodox approach to the fingerstyle jazz tradition and genres well beyond, deGruy is able to emulate the expansive harmonic palette of his major influences, guitarist Lenny Breau and pianist Bill Evans, while staking out his own new territory as a modern guitar master. Matt Resnicoff put it best in the liner notes to deGruy’s 1995 solo debut, Innuendo Out The Other: “Philip deGruy is the Victor Borge of the electric guitar, but only if Victor were as good as Art Tatum and as hilarious as, say, Lenny Bruce on a particularly outraged afternoon.” Guitar Player magazine put it more bluntly: “deGruy is one of the finest players ever.” Expect everything from the graceful melodicism of Debussy to inventive interpretations of John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Jobim, Gershwin, the Beatles, Bill Evans and beyond, all delivered with the masterful command of a Joe Pass and just a touch of N’awlins-bred irreverence.

Born in New Orleans in 1955, Phil deGruy (pronounced “degree”) took up guitar at an early age and quickly gravitated towards the music of Chet Atkins. After thoroughly assimilating Chet’s style through local guru teacher Hank Mackie, Phil next discovered jazz guitar legend Lenny Breau. He met the master in Nashville in 1976 and began a series of sporadic but intense study sessions with Breau over the next several years. It was Breau, the first to add a seventh high A string to his guitar (rather than the more common George Van Eps-styled low A as the seventh string), who turned Phil on to the possibilities of this new instrument. In 1983, Phil commissioned his first custom instrument, killing two birds with one stone when he combined the high A, 7-string concept with one of his own — an extra bank of 10 treble “harp” strings. A friend soon coined a name for the new invention, and the 17-string “guitarp” was born. Phil has never looked back. He followed his 1995 solo debut, Innuendo Out the Other, with 2000’s Hello Dali and 2004’s Just Duet (a collection of duets which paired him with legendary guitarists Larry Coryell, Charlie Hunter, Mike Stern, David Tronzo, Hank Mackie, Steve Masakowski and Reeves Gabrels). Phil can be seen regularly in his hometown at Snug Harbor, The Columns, Chickie Wah-Wah and at the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He has performed in New York City at the Iridium, Small’s, the Cutting Room, Roseland Ballroom and has also made concert appearances at the Long Island Jazz Festival, the Mizzoula Jazz Fest (Jazzoula) in Montana, Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California and the International Guitar Festival in Isadou, France.

Respected veteran jazz journalist Bill Milkowski called deGruy “New Orleans’ best-kept secret and a virtuoso of the highest order.” Vintage Guitar magazine said, “Phil deGruy is one of the most astounding talents to ever touch strings,” adding that he “has taken his instrument into new dimensions.” Satorist Harry Shearer, known for his voice work on The Simpsons and his character Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap, extolled the virtues of Phil’s singular playing (along with his notorious performance art skills) on his weekly syndicated public radio show, Le Show. Says the guitarpist of his mission statement: “I just want to bring new sounds into the world via a plethora of options. I don’t like the word ‘genre’ much. Labeling things and people is a boring enterprise. I like the paradox that the guitarp encourages: deconstruction, then reassembly of the piece via the colorful juxtaposition of its various elements. I guess I want heaven, hell AND limbo, which is what New Orleans is all about. Hey, what’s the difference between New Orleans and hell? Humidity.”