San Jose guitarist Mason Razavi kicks off the release of his solo guitar album Six-String Standards with a two-set celebration of jazz guitar in the South Bay. 

The first set will feature music from the new album. In the second set, Mason will be joined by several special guest guitarists: the internationally acclaimed Hristo Vitchev, Bay Area stalwart and revered educator Rick Vandivier and award-winning 17-year old guitarist Ryota Sato, who has been studying with Razavi and is a member of the San Jose Jazz High School All Stars. 

Mason Razavi has been praised for his "sensitivity, soulfulness, and swing" (All About Jazz), while his compositions offer “an introspective experience of deeper meaning” (Jazz Times).  He’s been recognized in his hometown as a “melodically inventive composer” (Mercury News) and a “terrific and consistent presence in the Bay Area jazz scene” (Metro) who has “carefully crafted his own voice” (SanJose.com). He was a recipient of the 2021 Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, named after the longtime Silicon Valley arts journalist.

On Six String Standards, Mason was inspired by the great solo guitar tradition epitomized by Joe Pass and Lenny Breau to offer his own look at the Great American Songbook. With several compositions from famed Sinatra collaborator Jimmy Van Heusen alongside familiar favorites from Henry Mancini and Johnny Green, he interprets these songs with his archtop and acoustic guitars, alternating between pick playing and intricate fingerstyle arrangements to deliver a varied set bound to delight lovers of solo guitar.

Through November 2023, $5 from every Six-String Standards CD sold through Bandcamp or in person will be donated to San Jose Jazz’s Progressions program. Progressions provides instruments, music education, and more to low-income youth in Title 1 schools in San Jose. 

masonrazavi.com
hristovitchev.com
rickvandivier.com
Ryota Sato website

Tickets

Also livestreaming on San Jose Jazz’s YouTube Channel