Jerry Garcia was a unique kind of guitarist whose style was never easy to replicate. As John Mayer once said, the late musician used to catch the notes “with a butterfly net as they went flitting by overhead.” His influences were remarkably broad and he was never limited to the most established Rock guitarists. He was always interested in new talents and musicians who, like him, could improvise and play without boundaries. Throughout his career, Jerry praised many of his peers and once revealed who his favorite lesser-known guitarists were. The 2 lesser-known guitarists Jerry Garcia called his favorites Steve Kimock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpzvLB7lPtg "My other favorite is Steve Kimock, who plays with the band Zero. Steve is a very good guitar player who I like a lot. He's melodic, has a lot of power, and is extremely tasty. He has a good balance of technique and soulfulness. Zero is from Marin County, California," said in an interview with Guitar Player magazine in 1989. The Grateful Dead guitarist and singer became a good friend of Kimock and even joined him and his band Zero on stage at the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco back in 1988. That day they covered the songs "Think", "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Goodnight, Iree". Kimock's tone and playing has often been compared with Garcia's. So it's not a coincidence that he ended up working with multiple Grateful Dead members. He toured with Bob Weir in the band Kingfish in the 1980s and joined him in his band RatDog in 2007 and 2014. He also was part of other Grateful Dead members side-projects like The Other Ones, Phil Lesh & Friends, recording with Bruce Hornsby and the Rhythm Devils, a band featuring the drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. When asked in an interview with Home Grown Music about being picked by Jerry as one of his favorite guitar players. Kimock said: "God bless him. That's cool. On the one end that's a tremendous acknowledgement from back in the day in the 80's. There are also people that it created expectations for them."" He continued: "Some of that's cool and some of that is difficult. Maybe a few more people will come to the show. Oh okay... There's that type of thing, when you're playing your own stuff and there are people who are pissed because you aren't playing Grateful Dead tunes. It's like 'Excuse me, this is my gig! This is my 30 people and we're doing this thing right now.' So that aspect of it is hard, to not play down to it and to get respect without getting hit in the face with a shovel. Nobody told me anything. I got a call from a guy in Nashville telling me something Mickey Hart had said about me. So I was like, really?!" Steve Kimock said. The guitarist was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. back in 1955 and started his career in 1974. His most recent album is the solo record "Satellite City", released in 2017. Frank Gambale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gCspNyHU9A&pp=ygUTRnJhbmsgR2FtYmFsZSBjaGljaw%3D%3D "Until he got famous recently, Frank Gambale was my favorite "known-unknown"guitar player, since his sweep picking represents a major advance in guitar technique," Jerry Garcia said in the interview with Guitar Player. Talking to Rolling Stone magazine two years later, in 1991, Garcia said that Gambale was his "personal favorite lately". "All kinds of stuff (I listen to). I listen to anything anyone gives me and always go back to a few basic favorites. I can always listen to Django Reinhardt and hear something I haven’t heard before, I like to listen to Art Tatum and Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Those are guys who never seem to run out of ideas. There are all kinds of great new players, Michael Hedges is great (but) my personal favorite lately is this guy Frank Gambale, who’s been playing with Chick Corea for the past couple of years," Jerry Garcia said. The late guitarist got hooked on Gambale's playing when he first heard the Chick Corea Elektric Band. The musician was part of the Corea's band albums that turned Garcia into a fan, which were "Light Years" (1987), "Eye of the Beholder" (1988), "Inside Out" (1990) and "Beneath the Mask" (1991). He also recommended those records to Phil Lesh at the time. Born in Canberra, Australia, in 1958, he started his career in 1984. Besides being a prolific solo artist, he was also part of other bands such as Vital Information, Return to Forever, GHS, MVP, Donati & Fierabracci and Maurizio Colonna, among others. Gambale is best known for his style, which uses sweep picking and economy picking techniques. The musician graduated from the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, where he was elected "Student of the Year". He was also a professor there from 1984 to 1986.The post The 2 lesser-known guitarists Jerry Garcia called his favorites appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.