JimCruzGuitarLessons Blog

Russell Malone, Smooth and Soulful Jazz Master

Russell Malone is jazz guitarist born 1963 in Albany, GA. He’s mostly a self-taught guitarist having been influenced by B.B. King as a kid but was heavily impacted musically at 12 yrs. old when he saw George Benson perform on…

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Jimmy Rosenberg, Blazing Hot Acoustic Jazz Virtuoso

Guitarist, Jimmy Rosenberg has become one of my newest “favorite guitarists” which I had learned about from a Facebook post. I am completely flawed with this young virtuoso’s playing. Joseph “Jimmy” Rosenberg is a Dutch guitarist, known for his virtuoso…

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Django Reinhardt, Gypsy Jazz Genius

I first heard about Django Reinhardt on my 15th birthday when my mom had gotten me a record album featuring a collection of the greatest jazz guitarists. 

Looking at the album, I had recognized some of the names but others…

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Phil Keaggy, Divinely Inspired Guitar Virtuoso

One of my favorite guitarists that I learned about in the early 80’s was Phil Keaggy. 

Keaggy is an American acoustic (pick & finger-stylist) and electric guitaristist (blues/rock stylist) and vocalist who has released more than 50 albums and contributed…

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Wes Montgomery, Jazz Guitar Legend and Master

Wes Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was one of the greatest jazz guitarist in American history. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian…

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Jazz Guitar Virtuoso Joe Pass

One of my top Jazz influences for almost as long as I’ve been playing guitar is Jazz guitar great, Joe Pass. 

The first time I heard his playing was on a vinyl album that was given to me as a…

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Jeff Beck, Unpredictable Rock Guitar Virtuoso

While I was a teenager learning how to play guitar in the 70’s, I was an avid reader of Guitar Player Magazine and Circus Magazine, a rock music publication featuring a lot of great articles and photos of the major…

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Jan Akkerman, Multi-Genre Guitar Virtuoso

I first heard Jan Akkerman In the early 70’s on a cool & comical instrumental rock tune called “Hocus Pocus” performed by a Dutch band called Focus. At that time the song had a lot of radio airplay on both…

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Ritchie Blackmore, Blues-Rock Virtuoso

My musical influences run a wide range of musical styles from Rock to Indian Music. I believe there is so much value to be gotten and learned from in so many different diverse musical influences. As a matter of fact…

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Carlos Santana, Blues-Rock Latino Style

Santana is one of my earliest musical influences. I was exposed to his music during a visit at my Dad’s apartment as a kid when I was first learning to play guitar. His emotion-filled melodic guitar solos helped me to…

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Pat Martino, Quantum Guitarist

One of my favorite Jazz guitarists is Pat Martino. Martino is an Italian-American jazz guitarist and composer within the post bop, fusion, mainstream jazz, and hard bop idioms. His style and approach to playing is both melodically complex and hypnotically…

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Larry Carlton, Master of Melody

Today I’m featuring the guitar work of Larry Carlton. I’ve had some really great musical heroes in my life that all influenced me and my guitar playing in one way or another. But it was Larry’s powerful sense of melody…

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John McLaughlin – Jazz-Rock Fusion Pioneer

When I first heard John McLaughlin, I was in my early teens learning to play guitar and listening to a number of the well known Rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Cream, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Grand Funk, etc.…

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Buying Your First Guitar

If you’ve got the desire to learn to play the guitar and you’ve never played before or you have a child or another loved one that is interested in playing and you’re looking for a guitar to purchase, I got…

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Lee Ritenour, Jazz-Rock-Funk Guitar Genius

Before the days of the internet, young musicians had to learn about other up-and-coming talent through other sources like music magazines, radio, concerts, vinyl record stores that played the newest albums on their stereo systems, and of course, word-of-mouth. For…

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Online Guitar Lessons via Zoom

Welcome and thanks for your interest in taking online lessons from me!

I offer private guitar lessons via Zoom to students living in or outside of my area of McDonough, GA. Actually, anywhere in the world.

For 35+ years…

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Guitar Lesson Rates & Policies

Welcome and thanks for your interest in taking guitar lessons from me! 

My guitar lesson rates for my in-person lessons are given below along with my policies. Please make yourself aware of my policies so there’s no misunderstanding in how…

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