Following the BLU Jazz+ Student All-Stars performance with Boardman High School, Youngstown jazz guitar virtuoso & composer returns to BLU for an evening of top-notch instrumental jazz! Featuring Teddy Pantelas, Vinny Vivacqua, Dustin May.
Teddy Pantelas is a self-taught guitarist since the age of 6. A private instructor, he has also been on the faculty of the Allegheny Music Festival and Montessori School System and has been the Musician in Residence at Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren, Ohio and North Side Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio for the last five years using the Healing Art of Music for the patients and their families.
Pantelas has performed extensively throughout the greater Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania region with such artists as Jack McDuff, Snooky Young, Vanessa Rubin, Jeri Brown, Steve Wilson, Jim Walker, Jimmy Ponder, Greg Bandy, Eddie Baccus, Sean Jones, Jamey Haddad, John Fedchock, Phil Keaggy, In Time, and Kenny Blake.
He has recorded CDs with Glass Harp "Strings Attached," drummer Darrell Alexander, Damian Knapp "Will You Cry When I Die," Jim Jeffery "So Cold," and vocalist Siri Pursey. He also has recorded his own CD "Teddy Pantelas Trio" with bassist Jeff Grubbs and drummer Olivia Sci which features his own music. An accomplished composer, his originals set him apart from any other contemporary jazz guitarist.
His release "It Makes Me Glad," Teddy Pantelas Trio was released April 1, 2006 on Tatsou Records. Joining him on this CD are a cast of masterful musicians, the phenomenal bassist Jeff Grubbs, drummer extraordinaire Darryl Pelligrini and Special Guest the truly gifted Sean Jones on trumpet! The collective of theses musicians really brings Pantelas' 8 originals to life which explains the title of the CD, "It Makes Me Glad".
His newest album, “Together Again,” Teddy Pantelas Trio w/ Michael Grappo was released on July 24, 2012 on Tatsou Records. This is his “Standards CD," a collection of standards from the heroes of jazz that have inspired him and many other jazz musicians. Joining the trio is guitarist Michael Grappo. It is refreshing hearing these two guitarists play together with their own unique sound and voice, that’s what makes this CD special. Jeff Grubbs is back with his expertise as the bassist and the new addition drummer, Nathan Douds. Douds has had a long history playing with Pantelas which can be heard here. This is definitely a feel good CD and one to be enjoyed for a long time.
Teddy feels it is important as an artist to share music that "comes from the heart" and in this way make a contribution to the art of jazz.
This is a must-hear concert, presented by one of the area's leading voices on jazz guitar. Get your tickets now!