Description:"...nobody plays guitar the way Tisziji Munoz does. He is very spiritual, and as a guitar player he swings wild.” - Paul Shaffer
Spirit-taught, avant-garde jazz virtuoso and extreme guitarist, Muñoz is best known for his unique, original sound and style, likened to that of a spiritual tornado. His career has spanned over five decades and includes a vast repertoire of creative works and inspired compositions released by his independent label, Anami Music.
Tisziji has received unqualified praise from such artists and fellow collaborators as Rashied Ali, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Henry Kaiser and Ra Kalam Bob Moses....
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Description:"...nobody plays guitar the way Tisziji Munoz does. He is very spiritual, and as a guitar player he swings wild.” - Paul Shaffer
Spirit-taught, avant-garde jazz virtuoso and extreme guitarist, Muñoz is best known for his unique, original sound and style, likened to that of a spiritual tornado. His career has spanned over five decades and includes a vast repertoire of creative works and inspired compositions released by his independent label, Anami Music.
Tisziji has received unqualified praise from such artists and fellow collaborators as Rashied Ali, Pharoah Sanders, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Henry Kaiser and Ra Kalam Bob Moses.
Following his departure from military service in 1969, Tisziji pursued his interests in Canada, generating his own musical ideas as well as taking a leading role in the development of Toronto’s underground music scene. As a guitarist in the musicals Hair and Godspell, he met and inspired the now world-famous keyboard player, Paul Shaffer, who became Tisziji’s primary accompanist from 1970 to 1972, and recalls:
“Tisziji’s music is of a unique, other-worldly nature… although I didn’t understand it, I was galvanized. He began to instruct me in how to accompany and play this type of music. Thus began a musical and spiritual friendship which continues to this day.
I apprenticed with Muñoz until I left for New York in 1974. He taught me first a repertoire of jazz standards, expanding my knowledge of harmony, then gradually freed me to play the modal type of spatial music with which he dealt. He led me and a small group of cats in an exploration of music as a means of spiritual communication with each other and, ultimately, with G-d.
I have [since] played with all the great guitar players, from Eric Clapton to Van Halen to Santana to Jeff Beck, and nobody plays guitar the way Tisziji Munoz does. He is very spiritual, and as a guitar player he swings wild.
Canadian-American Shaffer is best-known as David Letterman's musical director, band leader and sidekick. Shaffer began his music career as the musical director for the Toronto production of Godspell, starring Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin.
He went on to play piano for the Broadway show The Magic Show, then became a member of the house band on NBC's popular Saturday Night Live (SNL). Shaffer regularly appeared in the show's sketches. He is musical director for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
Shaffer has released two solo albums, Grammy-nominated 'Coast to Coast', and 'The World's Most Dangerous Party', produced by rock icon Todd Rundgren. After 33 years with David Letterman:
"My wife says, 'You're not going to be around the house in your pajamas until 11 every morning.' She's right. I've got to put on my clothes and go play piano someplace." - Paul Shaffer
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