If he had it to do again, nylon-string jazz guitarist Nate Najar would be playing a different instrument.
“If I could start over, I’d play piano,” he says. “I once had a wonderful teacher named Frank Mullen, and he often brought a classical guitar to my lessons before I played one. He talked me into trying it, and made me realize how much more piano-like a nylon-string guitar is when played finger-style.”
Now living in South Pasadena, Fla., only a few miles from where he grew up in St. Petersburg, the 32-year-old Najar had cut his teeth on decidedly non-pianistic electric axes, with a guitar pick, while playing rock music in his early teens. Later, jazz lessons started him on a path that led to his career-changing encounters with Mullen (1931-2009).
“I still occasionally play with a pick, but don’t like to,” Najar says with a laugh. “I get calls from singers to play as a sideman, and I’ll use a pick with a hollow-bodied electric jazz guitar. But Frank definitely changed my preference toward using my fingers to play nylon strings on an acoustic classical instrument.”
Mullen, who’d carved out quite the recording and performing career with a vast range of talents from fellow jazz guitarists Wes Montgomery, Herb Ellis and Charlie Byrd to pop singers Marvin Gaye, Tom Jones and Sammy Davis Jr., had moved from his native Washington, D.C., to St. Petersburg a decade before Najar was born there.
By then, both Mullen and Byrd (1925-1999) had become rare pioneers at using nylon-stringed classical guitars in a jazz context. Each had studied with D.C. classical guitar instructor Sophocles Papas, changing their technique and linking them forever.
Najar’s former instructor also introduced him to the music of Byrd. Transfixed, the young guitarist has since found ways to link himself to the nylon-string icon, including hiring Byrd’s drummer of 20 years, Chuck Redd, for recording and select tour dates.
“Chuck and bassist Tommy Cecil, also from Washington, D.C., have made frequent appearances on my five CDs,” Najar says, “and they often play live with me if I have shows in the Northeastern U.S.”
Redd, Cecil, Brazilian drummer Duduka da Fonseca and tenor saxophonist Harry Allen all appear on Najar’s brand-new CD Aquarella do Brasil (Candid Records), a stellar collection of Brazilian-inspired jazz pieces on which the versatile Redd occasionally doubles on vibraphone. Its predecessor was last year’s Blues for Night People: The Nate Najar Trio Remembers Charlie Byrd, which also featured Cecil and Redd and provided both audio and visual links between the young guitarist and his primary influence.
Najar was able to use Byrd’s own classical guitar, a 1974 Ramirez 1a (the same model favored by the iconic Andres Segovia), on the compelling set of Byrd-associated classics. And its cover shows Byrd standing before a cobblestone street in the Georgetown area of D.C. in the 1960s, dressed in a suit and holding a guitar. A suit-clad Najar appears to stand to his left, also holding a guitar, even though he wasn’t born until 1981.
“I always loved that picture of Charlie,” Najar says, “and knew that it had never been used on an album. But I would never have presumed to do that Photoshopped cover. Charlie’s widow, Becky, said to me, ‘Nate, I have a great idea. You should put yourself on the cover with Charlie.’ She scanned the original photo and sent it to me, and I had a photographer do the rest. Considering that it was her idea, I consented, and I think it turned out great.”
For the past year, Najar’s Florida and regional concerts have featured the rhythm section of Tampa/St. Pete-area bassist Alejandro Arenas and drummer Mark Feinman. Both round out the trio for Najar’s forthcoming Arts Garage show.
“They’ve done great work,” he said, “and have been easy to travel with. And being younger also makes them malleable, which is necessary to play in a trio with a classical guitar, perhaps the quietest instrument on the planet. It’s very difficult to amplify.”
Most classical guitars simply aren’t, and their nylon strings make them even quieter than non-amplified steel-string acoustic guitars.
“It’s funny, but I don’t know what to do if I get a steel-string acoustic guitar in my hands,” Najar says, “because I can’t play it with just my fingers. It would destroy them.”
Najar’s primary instrument, custom-made by Italian-born, Spain-based luthier Daniele Chiesa, features a customized pickup made by Rich Barbera.
“I bought my guitar in New York, and have been using it for a little over two years,” Najar says. “I’m really happy with the quality and variety of tones I can achieve with it. And I’ve never been more pleased with my amplification situation. Rich has created violin pickups out of Staten Island for 20 years, and a bassist I’ve worked with named John Lamb had one of his designs for his bass. When I called Rich, he’d just finished the prototype for a classical guitar, and when he sent it to me it was just about perfect as is. It’s helped me be heard more naturally, which is difficult when playing with bass and drums.”
Also helpful is the fact that Najar’s rhythm sections are well-versed in dynamics. Bassists Arenas and Cecil play acoustic upright versions of their instruments, and Feinman and Redd both use more subtle brushes, with little drop in intensity if that’s what a song requires, as well as drumsticks.
“Even with the amplification,” Najar says, “you still have to be able to play with a band that’s sensitive to how quiet a classical guitar is.”
This will be the Najar Trio’s second appearance at the Arts Garage, and as it turns out, a long-awaited one.
“Last summer was the first time we were there,” Najar says, “and it’s a terrific room. We didn’t know what to expect, and we really enjoyed ourselves and couldn’t wait to come back. I’d be happy to play more venues like that.”
Perhaps in New York City, which most jazz musicians seem to see as an oasis among their often-deserted musical genre?
“When I was younger I dreamed of going there,” Najar says. “But I think it’s a different place from the center of the jazz universe it once was. Bradley’s was once a great jazz club, and it’s a sports bar now. It’s a sign of the times; an unfortunate example, and not really anyone’s fault. But I’m happy where I am.”
“I may wish there was more work in the U.S., but being on the London-based Candid label has allowed me to tour the U.K. four times in the last couple years. And I love it there, too. The audiences and venues — for instrumental music — are great. And that distinction is the difference between America and much of the rest of the world. But I still don’t ever want to change what I do in a search for what people might want to otherwise spend their money on.”
The Nate Najar Trio performs at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 5, at the Arts Garage, 180 N.E. 1st St., Delray Beach ($25-45, 561-450-6357).