Steve Masakowski, one of America’s great jazz guitarists, will conduct a music workshop and clinic at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, in the Band Room of the UALR’s Fine Arts Building. Admission is free and open to the public. The event is sponsored by the UALR Student Guitar Society with the support of the Office of Campus Life.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Masakowski has long been regarded as one of the top jazz artists in the city. He has played with New Orleans musicians Alvin “Red” Tyler, Ellis Marsalis, Earl Turbinton, and James Black. He has also performed with Grammy Award winning artists Bobby McFerrin, Nicholas Payton, Allen Toussaint, and Dianne Reeves at major festivals around the world.

As a recording artist, he has released numerous CD’s including two on the prestigious Blue Note Records label. He has been an active member of, and composer for the award winning New Orleans Jazz group Astral Project.

He has twice been voted “Best Guitarist,” and won “Best Contemporary Jazz Group” three times by Gambit and Offbeat magazines in their annual reader’s polls. He has published lessons in Guitar Player magazine and authored the book, “Jazz Ear Training – Learning to Hear Your Way Through Music,” for Mel Bay Publications.

Masakowski has participated in numerous jazz concerts and workshops at major universities including Princeton, the University of Chicago, and the University on Indiana. He is currently on the faculty at the University of New Orleans where he holds the position of Coca-Cola Endowed Chair of Jazz Studies.

For more information, contact music Professor Michael Carenbauer at 501-569-8437.