Jim Ferguson


James Edwin Ferguson is an American guitarist, composer, journalist, and educator.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Ferguson began his early music education playing the trombone at age 7, and then after eight years of study, switched to the guitar at age 15. He moved to California and began his music career in the 1970s, performing, teaching, and devoting serious study to the guitar.
He has performed in the U.S. and abroad, is featured on solo guitar CDs showcasing his original compositions for classical guitar, and has had numerous compositions published in both anthologies alongside the works of other notable contemporary composers and in publications dedicated solely to his works.
He has written several jazz guitar instructional books, including All Blues for Jazz Guitar. He is an award-winning and Grammy-nominated music journalist and editor.
He holds B.S. and M.F.A. degrees and has taught guitar and music courses at universities in California for over 25 years, has conducted guitar and music workshops in the U.S. and abroad, and has taught guitar privately for over 40 years.

Journalism

Ferguson has written articles for Guitar Player, Down Beat, JazzTimes, Fingerstyle Guitar, and Classical Guitar. As a student, he studied with George Barnes, Lenny Breau, David Tanenbaum, and José Rey de la Torre. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Performance and Literature from Mills College and wrote his thesis on Darius Milhaud. He has written for The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, and edited several volumes for Guitar Solo Publications of San Francisco, including an instructional series on the works of Fernando Sor, Leo Brouwer, and Matteo Carcassi, and Federico Moreno Torroba's Castillos de España. He also compiled numerous collections of historic performances for Fantasy Records, Rhino Records, and Concord Records, and worked on several projects for other labels including Riverside Records.
In 1994, Ferguson and Orrin Keepnews earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Album Notes for their liner notes to the 12-CD set Wes Montgomery—. The notes include a biography of Montgomery by Ferguson and interviews with Nat Adderley, Ron Carter, Kenny Burrell, John Scofield, and Tommy Flanagan.

Composing

Ferguson writes compositions and arrangements for both solo guitar and ensemble settings, including nylon-string guitar and flute, and nylon-string guitar and contrabass. He learned composition from Joseph Blaha and Ernest "Red" Varner. In the early 1990s, he began composing. In 2004, he released his first solo album, Cedar & Silver. Tracks from Cedar & Silver such as "Aurora" and "Blanca" have been licensed by A&E, ABC, PBS, Spike TV, and MTV India. "Brothers" was licensed by The History Channel for their special "The History of Thanksgiving." The score to "Asian Pavan" was published in the October 2005 issue of Classical Guitar magazine and was included in the Contemporary Anthology of Solo Guitar Music for Five Fingers of the Right Hand.
Moonstone consists of original compositions, including six pieces from 12 Simple Jazzy Studies. Other published works by Ferguson include Film Noir—Four Scenes, "Requiem for a Fallen Artist," Four Monsters, 12 Semi-Simple Jazzy Studies, "Winedark Sea," and Jazzotica. He has performed with Paulo Bellinati, Ray Drummond, Jorge Morel, Tommy Tedesco, and Ernie Watts.

Teaching and writing

Ferguson has taught jazz and classical guitar privately and at California State University Monterey Bay, Evergreen Valley College, and San Jose City College. He has given private lessons, conducted workshops, and has appeared on radio and television.
Ferguson's instructional books include examples written and played by him. The first book in the series, All Blues for Jazz Guitar, was named one of "100 Great Guitar Books" by Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

Discography

As leader