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Roland Wins
4th
National Competition Award
Composition,
2008
Outstanding
Performance, Jazz soloist, 2006
Outstanding
Performance, Blues/Rock soloist, 2006
Best Jazz
Soloist, 2004
(see Downbeat magazines,
June 2008, June 2006 and June
2004)
The Downbeat Award, considered the highest award in the
country, is a nationwide competition in which the jurors do not know the
performers' names or their colleges. The applicants send 10 minute,
anonymous recordings. Roland sent,
"A representation of the history of jazz improvisation...in
10 minutes! I played a Swing solo, a Bebop solo, an original arrangement
for unaccompanied jazz guitar--containing true polyphony--a Contemporary solo,
and a performance of a Keith Jarrett solo" which he transcribed.
Roland studied with jazz legends
Bob Brookmeyer, John McNeil, and pedagogue guru Charlie Banacos at the New
England Conservatory of Music. "Without them the Downbeat Awards would have remained
just a dream!"
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Click buttons
below to
hear examples
Roland uses
FullTone pedals
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