[Creative Fridays] #24: Josh Maxey

Facebook was probably where I first discovered the amazing artistry of Josh Maxey. A prolific creative musician, I kept seeing his posts on various Facebook jazz groups. I slowly learned more about his music over time and grew to admire his immense discipline and dedication to music.

One of the projects that Josh spearheaded was a cool 6-part video series where he compiled mini jazz guitar lesson from educators from all over the world who were part of the FB group, Jazz Guitar Addiction:

Let’s learn more about Josh!

Josh Maxey is a musician and guitar teacher based in New York City. Josh’s music has been played all around the world on jazz radio and has received dozens of critical reviews. Josh has made a series of albums which began with a six album series recorded over twelve months. It documented 50 original composition recordings with 20+ musicians. Celebration of Soul was the 10th album in that series and the first to be released on Miles High Records. The album received wide radio play and critical attention. Josh has taught private guitar lessons since 2003, as well as at many of the largest guitar schools in New York City, NY and Denver, Colorado. Josh has worked with hundreds of students helping them develop fluency on the guitar. Josh does in person lesson in NYC as well as Skype and video lessons. In addition to teaching full-time Josh can be seen playing in New York City and Denver Colorado. He is often a featured musical artist on the Periscope streaming app.

Now, let’s see what he’s been up to.

1. What’s your latest project?

My family just moved back to NYC. I’ve been focused on teaching since the move. It’s going well! I keep a busy teaching schedule with in person as well as weekly Skype/FB Video lessons.

I have recorded and released a lot of music in the past few years. (JoshMaxey.com) I have 3 new albums either completed or nearly so that I’d like to release in the next year. I’m deciding what the best way to do it is.

I enjoy playing on the streaming app Periscope (@JoshuaMaxey) a few nights a week. Recently the app has featured me in the “Discover Your Next Favorite Musician” section and the broadcasts have ten thousand or more viewers. That’s a lot of fun and I get to play through new music ideas and answer guitar questions.

2. What inspires your music?

My favorite music inspires me. For me, music has its own worlds with places and views and meaning. The people closest to me are always a source of inspiration. They make every minute better.

3. What’s your 5 Desert Island Albums?

Coltrane’s A Love Supreme

Rodney Jones, The X Field
Available here:
https://www.amazon.com/X-Field-Rodney-Jones/dp/B000000FPY

The Grateful Dead One From the Vault

Phish, The Clifford Ball

Jessica Martinez Maxey, Ancient Memory
Available here:
https://jessicamartinezmaxey.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-memory

4. Who’s one artist/musician that you love but most people probably don’t know of?

Nathen Page has had a huge influence on my playing. His intervalic playing was way before its time (might still be?). I love it!

5. What’s an advice you wish someone told you when you started in the arts?

I feel like I had pretty great advice early on and through the years. I saw what careers in music looked like as I was learning. I can’t think of anything that wasn’t really said. I can share something that was said that I find more and more true, though. Which is, “It _IS_worth it.” Keep going. Being a musician, creative, an artist, all deal with the beauty and core elements of life and it’s well worth dedicating a lifetime to.

6. As a jazz guitarist, composer and educator, what has been your biggest challenge in your work? How did you overcome it?

That’s a deep one! I don’t think have overcome them.

7. How do we reach you?
Website: JoshMaxey.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/JoshuaMaxey
Instagram: @joshuamaxey
YouTube: YouTube.com/JoshuaMaxey
Twitter & Periscope: @joshuamaxey & @joshuamaxey
Other Website(s): https://joshuamaxey.bandcamp.com

Thank you for your time Josh!

Thank you for reading this week’s instalment of #AzCreativeFridays. Please do check out the past interviews (24 so far, including this one) and come back next week for the next one with jazz drummer Toru Watanabe. Till next time! 🙂

Read the recent [Creative Fridays] interview:
[Creative Fridays] #14 : Taylor Roberts
7-String Solo Guitarist

[Creative Fridays] #15: Dylan Lee
Cellist

[Creative Fridays] #16: Scott Murphy
Saxophonist and Composer

[Creative Fridays] #17: Nisa Addina
Violinist

[Creative Fridays] #18: Jake Shimabukuro
Ukulele Virtuoso

[Creative Fridays] #19: Jared Sims
Jazz Saxophonist

[Creative Fridays] #20: Gabriel Lynch
Singer-Songwriter

[Creative Fridays] #21: Rizal Tony
Jazz Guitarist and Educator

[Creative Fridays] #22: Raja Farouk
Multi-Instrumentalist and Sessionist

[Creative Fridays] #23: Kho Chia Wen Sharon
Sound Designer

[Creative Fridays] #24: Josh Maxey
Jazz Guitarist & Educator

Next Friday:
[Creative Fridays] #25: Toru Watanabe
Jazz Drummer
Coming up September 21 2018

[About Creative Fridays]

The original Creative Fridays was an interview series I did back in 2012. Published on my website, www.azsamad.com, it explored the musical influences of various musicians from all over the world. Relaunching this now in 2018, there are some cool add-ons. For a super obvious one, we’ve now added Spotify and YouTube links whenever possible for the Desert Island Albums list.

This to me is amazing because you can actually immediately listen to the recommended albums. Coming from a generation that used to make trips to the record store to check out new music, it still boggles my mind that we can immediately listen to the records that is recommended here. Imagine if you listened to the 5 suggested albums – how much could you learn from it?

Also, in addition to the original questions from the series, I’ve added a new question into the mix asking about the biggest challenge each individual has faced in their work. I’ve found that we all can benefit by learning from one another. Let’s share and grow together!

If you know a musician who you think could be a good fit to be featured in Creative Fridays, please contact me with your ideas. The focus is in diversity for music, cultural background, geography, age and experience. It doesn’t matter where you are around the world, if you’re a creative making interesting music on an interesting journey and have something to share, please reach out to me. Please do note, due to this being a weekly series, the interview may be featured later in the year depending scheduling.

Thank you! 🙂

[The Original Series]
Season 1: Every week for 13 weeks, published from Feb 2012 to April 2012.
[Creative Fridays] #1 : Kevin Broken Scar
(Melbourne Singer-Songwriter/Sound Engineer)

[Creative Fridays] #2 : Deborah Crooks
(SF Bay Area Singer-Songwriter)

[Creative Fridays] #3 : Dylan Kay
(UK/Auckland Jazz Guitarist)

[Creative Fridays] #4 : Azmyl Yunor
(Malaysian Singer-Songwriter/College Lecturer)

[Creative Fridays] #5 : Gustavo Assis-Brasil
(Boston Jazz Guitarist/Educator)

[Creative Fridays] #6 : TragiComedy
(Malaysian Singer-Songwriter)

[Creative Fridays] #7 : Candelaria
(Oakland Cumbia-Dub Band)

[Creative Fridays] #8 : Pete Teo
(Malaysian Singer-Songwriter/Filmmaker)

[Creative Fridays] #9 : Lori McKinney
(West Virginia Bandleader/Festival Organizer)

[Creative Fridays] #10: Helen Sherrah-Davies
(UK/Boston Violinist-Composer & Berklee faculty)

[Creative Fridays] #11: Adam Everett
(SF Bay Area Drummer-Composer)

[Creative Fridays] #12: Julian Chan
(Malaysian Jazz Saxophonist)

[Creative Fridays] #13: Sharon Chong
(Malaysian Keyboardist and Vocalist]