MW: Jimmy Wyble has seen a resurgence in his performing and teaching appearances recently as a new generation of players has discovered his method books and recordings. How did you meet Jimmy and how has that relationship developed since then?

JS: It started in the early 90’s, when a friend of mine David Oakes, who is a classical and jazz guitarist teaching at USC republished Jimmy’s “Art of Two Line Improvisation.” It was originally released in the 70’s, but I guess there were some mistakes in it and there was no recording with the book. So David helped to rerelease this book, and he told me about it and gave me a copy to check out.

I thought it looked really interesting so I sent Jimmy a cassette of me playing. At the time his wife was very ill so he wasn’t socializing or teaching very much. I think if you were a good friend you could stop by the house, but if you didn’t know him I think it would have been a bit presumptuous to assume that he would have time for you.

He didn’t really play out at this time either, because he was taking care of his wife full time. So I sent him a tape and a letter saying I really enjoyed his book and he sent me a tape back in return with a nice little note. I think the recording was just him in his living and it was spectacular. I still have the tape and it’s still just as amazing to listen to today as it was then.

So I was aware of Jimmy for a while, but had never had the chance to meet him. Then about three years ago I was at the NAMM show in Anaheim. A mutual friend, Sid Jacobs, introduced me to Jimmy while we were hanging out one day. Although we hadn’t spoken since, he still remembered me from the tape I sent him and we had a great conversation.

This was after his wife had passed away, and he was out playing more. I got the impression that his wife was very supportive of his music and that she would have been happy with him returning to performing after taking those years off.

Sid arranged to get Jimmy some teaching at the Musicians' Institute in LA. Everybody is thrilled to have Jimmy on the faculty there. He also has done some touring, including a trip to Argentina with Sid and some clinics in New York and Spokane, WA. I'm really glad to see Jimmy active again and so happy to have him as friend and mentor. There was a wonderful tribute to Jimmy that Brandon Bernstein just organized down in LA.

MW: Yeah I heard about that, Brandon’s one of my closest friends.

JS: I didn’t know that. I ran into Gene Bertoncini a few weeks earlier in New York and he mentioned he was flying out for the tribute, and Howard Alden flew out as well.

I saw some great video clips by Bob Barry, who is a good friend also and was there documenting the tribute. Jimmy thought that the event was going to be an informal gathering with a few guitarists playing his etudes. He was completely surprised to see thirty or so of the best guitarists on the planet there to perform and honor him, with a nice crowd in attendance. It was a very nice tribute and he most certainly deserves it.

This is a long answer to your question, but I’ve been aware of him for some time, but have only recently begun to spend some time with him at his house.  I’ve been to his house about a half a dozen times and watched him play, and he still absolutely has it, he can still play all those amazing things.

I know that my solo playing, absolutely, has been influenced by Jimmy’s books and approach. The way I approach counterpoint, inner-voice movement and double stops, among other things have all been influenced by Jimmy. I’m not trying to copy him, I’m just trying to get those sounds into my head. When I see those YouTube videos of him playing, he sounds like a little orchestra all by himself. He’s a totally complete player.