Nate Najar is a multi-talented American jazz guitarist-composer-producer and international recording and touring artist.

With a special affinity for melodic interpretation, and a rich songbook of recognized standards and inventive originals, this is one cat who owns every audience — 8 to 89 — from the moment he strums his first notes.

Grounded in classical music, with a distinct affinity for Jazz, Latin, Blues and Gospel stylings, Najar considers himself a product of his many passions.

A student of jazz from Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Brazilian rhythms to the stylistic genius of guitar and piano innovators including Barney Kessel, Django Reinhardt, Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans – Najar considers musicality central to his compositions and performances. Seeing the acoustic guitar as a piano, he elicits remarkably rich and unique sounds that are the result of his ongoing mastery of the finger-style nylon string technique for the classical jazz guitar.

Exclusively finger-style nylon string jazz players are relatively rare these days, says Najar, who cites Jay Berliner, Earl Klugh, and Gene Bertoncini alongside the late Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd as artists who influenced his musical development. Early on, the music of Charlie Byrd became his mainstay. Though the two never met, Najar immersed himself in the study of Byrd’s music and techniques, “I like the elegant simplicity of what he plays, yet it  always sounds like just the right way to do it.”

The stage is clearly Nate Najar’s throne and live performance his passion.

Whether as a featured solo performer, making an intimate audience connection with a collaborative jazz trio, or leading a high-energy contemporary jazz band through its paces, Nate is the man! Having developed his professional chops early on in pickup jazz dates before he was old enough to drive, leading to gigs at Washington D.C.’s Blues Alley and the world renowned Kennedy Center, and further honing his audience skills on the international jazz festival and club circuit from Dubai to California, Najar is uncommonly expressive and versatile.

Nate Najar picked up his first guitar at the tender age of nine years old against an early childhood fused in the soundtrack of rhythm and blues.

Despite of the lack of musical background in his family, the Florida native’s first guitar was a pawnshop special his parents picked up to satisfy his musical curiosity. Nate was hooked, experimenting with rock, blues and always enjoying the energy of live performances. As a teen, his explorations moved into jazz, starting with Coltrane and Wes Montgomery. This period of musical development included opportunities to converse and learn from jazz idols including Jack Wilkins, Gene Bertoncini and Romero Lubambo. Most fondly remembered are those leisurely extended lessons under the tutelage of Frank Mullen, a close friend of Charlie Byrd who also studied with the notable Sophocles Papas.

Najar soon developed a taste for the nylon string acoustic, and beginning in 2002, began infusing his own signature touches on a series of straight ahead jazz recordings.

Today, Najar enjoys playing both acoustic and electric guitar yet, “It’s the nylon string acoustic that feels most authentic. I’ve developed my own voice on it and the acoustic really allows me to get into the character of the tune.” For classic jazz, Najar adores the sounds of his Buscarino Cabaret guitar.

Traditional Jazz.

Jazz genres, while hard to define, include three key elements: improvisation, interpretation, and interaction among the players. The trio is a favorite Najar configuration.

Nate has performed alongside jazz greats including Clark Terry, Ken Peplowski and Ray Kennedy. In 2008, Nate was invited by jazz pianist and educator, Dr. Billy Taylor, to perform in a Kennedy Center event celebrating Charlie Byrd and other DC area jazz notables.

As a prolific composer, Nate creates music by drawing upon his emotions, life experiences, and extreme sensitivity for pitch, rhythm and harmonies. Four experimental and regionally distributed recordings were self-produced from 2002 to 2005: The Nate Najar Trio, Cool Sounds of Nate Najar, Like Coolsville, and Swinging with the Nate Najar Quartet. Another three nationally distributed traditional jazz albums in the “swinging jazz” mode have been recorded and issued since then:  The Nate Najar Trio – I’m All Smiles (2006), Christmas with the Nate Najar Trio (2007), and Live at the Side Door (2008). 

For Najar’s global fans, he is presently writing and creating new music for a classic jazz album that will be recorded in Fall 2011.

Contemporary Jazz.

Nate Najar has a distinct versatility and presence that commands respect from his musical peers. When not headlining his own shows, Nate finds time to perform as a featured sideman in support of artists who represent a Who’s Who of the constantly evolving contemporary jazz scene. His favorites include West Coast-based saxophonist Jessy J with whom he performed at the Dubai Jazz Festival in 2011; Swedish pianist Jonathan Fritzén at the 2010 Clearwater Jazz Festival; and New York trumpeter Cindy Bradley at the 2011 Seabreeze Jazz Festival.

In 2009, Najar issued “Until Now”, his smooth jazz debut and fourth broad release recording. Its success sparked the release of “Groove Me” (2010), an EP featuring lush vocals by R&B singer Melba Moore.

The aptly titled album, “Until Now” (2009) is an engaging compilation that holds listeners with its seductive riffs and opulent melodies. From a stirring acoustic interpretation of Michael Jackson’s Human Nature to original compositions including the Brazilian musings of Samba de Noite with its four on the floor dance beats, and rich layers of the bluesy Sunday Serenade, it’s easy to understand why Nate Najar is a jazz provocateur, redefining the boundaries of traditional and contemporary jazz. The single “Groove Me”, featuring vocals by Melba Moore and an all star band of Rick Braun, Shilts, Ron Reinhardt, Stan Seargent, “Third” Richardson and Luis Conte debuted in October 2010 and topped out at Number 9 on the Billboard jazz charts.

Clearly, there is a classic timelessness in Nate’s innovative, genre-breaking music. This self-professed ambassador of musicality is earning new audiences from Dubai to Denver, St. Petersburg to Southern California. Look out for this force of nature. Listen without bias. Remember his name. NATE NAJAR.