Jim Guttmann
Musician in Watertown, Massachusetts
From smoky dives to Carnegie Hall, from Amsterdam's Concertgebouw to the Cambridge folk club Passim, Jim Guttmann has had a performance career spanning over 40 years and many musical idioms.
In 2010 he released to critical acclaim his first album as a leader, "Bessarabian Breakdown" a culmination of his performance experience to date.
Jim has been teaching bass and coaching jazz, blues & ethnic music ensembles for 30 years. He teaches all age ranges from elementary school to retirees. At the core of Jim's teaching is the search for his students' musical interests and learning styles, allowing the student to open the doors to his or her own musical discovery.
Jim has studied performance with Edwin Barker and Dave Holland, harmony with Richard Cornell and techniques for improvisation with Charlie Banacos.
Jim is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant to study the arco solo tradition in jazz bass playing and a member of the Grammy Award winning ensemble on Yehudi Wyner's "The Mirror."