Steve Vai

他是后达达主义乐派frank zappa的主奏吉他手。他是名吉他手joe satriani的爱徒。他待过重摇滚whitesnake和david lee roth等乐队。。。他是－steve vai！ 1960年出生於纽约长岛的吉他英雄steve vai自13岁起便以吉他手的身份自组乐团，并受到恩师joe satriani的提携与指导。由於天赋异禀，加上後来他至著名的柏克莱音乐学院学习爵士乐和古典乐，使得当时年纪轻轻的他就拥有令人惊叹的高超技巧。早在steve18岁时就受早期的前卫摇滚大师frink zappa赏识，成为该团的吉他手。 1985年接 替yngwie malmsteen成为alcatrazz乐团之吉他手。1986年又为前van halen主唱david lee roth担任吉他手、1989年加入whitesnake协助完成"slip of the tongue"专辑…总总音乐历程，让他在自已个人专辑中常展现各种不同的音乐类型。 虽然在steve vai的个人专辑中多以硬式摇滚、重金 属曲风为主，但仔细聆听，会发现其中多包含爵士、放克、古典等…多种感觉与味道。而除了音乐性外，steve在吉他技术上更可奉为当代吉他手的规臬与典范。由日本"young guitar"杂志每年的吉他手票选，前三名中必有一名为steve vai。弹奏技巧上无论"速弹"、"点弦"、至"都已达到如火纯青的地步。特殊的"抖音"技巧与独出一格的吉他音色更突显他的个人风格。 在他的个人专辑中，几乎每张的风格都不太一样。有些专辑中收录的歌曲，是属於比较实验性的作品，初次接受可能有人会不太习惯。但由此证明steve vai是个勇於创新的人，不断向新的曲风、尝试迈进。 Along with his one-time teacher Joe Satriani, six-string wizard Steve Vai set the standard for rock guitar virtuosity in the '80s. Born on June 6, 1960, and raised in Carle Place, NY, Vai became interested in the guitar via such legendary artists as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Alice Cooper as a teenager and, upon starting high school, took lessons with an older player from his high school, Joe Satriani. Playing in several local bands, Vai quickly picked up on the instrument, and by the age of 18 was attending the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston. As a student there, Vai transcribed several of Frank Zappa's most technically demanding compositions for guitar, and even sent a copy of one such transcription, "Black Page," to Zappa himself. Zappa was so impressed with the young guitarist that upon meeting him, he invited Vai to join his band. Subsequently, Vai toured the world with Zappa (giving Vai the nicknames "Stunt Guitarist" and "Little Italian Virtuoso") and played on such albums as 1981's Tinsel Town Rebellion and You Are What You Is, 1982's Ship Arriving Too Late, 1983's Man from Utopia, plus 1984's Them or Us and Thing Fish, before leaving to set out on his own. First off was a pair of self-financed, recorded, and released solo albums in 1984, Flex-Able and Flex-Able Leftovers, both of which showcased Vai's guitar playing and songwriting talents, yet were still heavily influenced byZappa. With Van Halen all the rage by the mid-'80s due to their massive hard rock/pop crossover success, Vai replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in a similarly styled outfit called Alcatrazz (which featured former Rainbow vocalist Graham Bonnett), playing on their overlooked 1985 release Disturbing the Peace. The same year, Vai made a cameo appearance in the movie Crossroads (playing the devil's guitarist and shredding away in a guitar duel with Ralph Macchio) and got an invite from his friend/bass master Billy Sheehan to try out for the guitar spot in singer David Lee Roth's solo band (Roth had just split from Van Halen), and eventually landed the gig. 1986 saw the debut release from Roth and his stellar solo band, Eat 'Em and Smile, which went on to become one of the year's top hard rock releases. Both Vai and Sheehan were catapulted to superstardom due to their instrumental talents, as they took top honors in numerous guitar magazines for years afterward. But although the quartet showed great promise, Sheehan jumped ship just after their sophomore album, Skyscraper, was issued in 1988. Although the album was more pop-based than its predecessor, it became another sizeable hit — with Vai earning a co-producing credit on the album along with Roth. The same year, Vai issued his own line of snazzy guitars, the Jem 777 series, via the Ibanez company. After the ensuing tour with Roth wrapped up in late 1988, it was Vai's turn to jump ship. In addition to working on another solo album, he was invited to join up with chart-topping pop-metallists Whitesnake, an offer he accepted. His one and only album with Whitesnake, Slip of the Tongue, was issued in 1989, as was his third solo album overall, Passion and Warfare, a year later. The album was based on dreams that Vai experienced as a teenager, as the largely instrumental album became a sizeable hit, earning gold certification and solidifying Vai's standing as one of the top guitarists of the day. It was also around this time that Vai created a seven-string guitar through Ibanez. Although the instrument didn't catch on initially, it would by the mid- to late '90s, when the guitarists in such metal acts as Korn and Limp Bizkit would utilize the instrument to achieve super-low tunings. After an extended hiatus, Vai formed his first conventional rock band (called...VAI) along with newcomer Devin Townsend on vocals, T.M. Stevens on bass, and Terry Bozzio on drums — offering their one and only album in 1993, Sex & Religion. When the album proved to be a disappointment both critically and commercially, Vai returned back to all-instrumental work with the 1995 EP Alien Love Secrets. For the remainder of the decade, Vai continued to issue solo releases, including 1996's Fire Garden, 1998's Flex-Able Leftovers (a re-release of his long out of print second