When the chord from a borrowed guitar finished ringing Willie
Oteri looked up at his present wife and together they realized that Willie is
first and foremost a musician and a fulltime one he should again become. At the
time, the late ‘90s, the two were living on a sailboat berthed just south of
San Francisco and Willie had not touched or even owned a musical instrument in
several years, partly the result of financial hardship due to the ill health
of his first wife and the time needed to care for her and her son. This left
Willie with little choice. Prior to these times Willie was performing and
recording with popular west coast Blues, Rock and Jazz Fusion bands and gaining
a well deserved reputation sharing the stage with names like The Doobie
Brothers, Chaka Khan, Bob Seger and Neil Young among others.
Imagine, after nearly a decade
off from music, older and wiser with a driving will to suceed but then having to jump back into a youth obsessed industry. Willie did just that and
from that point rose to a level beyond many players dreams, making well received
recordings with some of the World’s best musicians including Tony
Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Mike Keneally, Stu Hamm, Brannen Temple and Ephraim
Owens, to name a few. Such an accomplishment has garnered Oteri increasing
notoriety amongst his peers and fans alike and made him a rare anomaly in the
music world.
Born and raised in central California Willie started performing in his 20s
as a bassist and later developed a unique style on Pedal Steel Guitar (he now
plays only guitar). Due to events mentioned above it would not be until 1995
when he could release his first solo
album “Willy’s Cry” for JSW; After a second release in 1998, (both albums are
currently out of print) and wanting to widen his style he moved to Austin,
Texas where he founded Jazz Gunn, (AKA MateMaToot) along with drummer Brannen
Temple (Sheena Easton, Kevin Paige, Robben Ford, Eric Johnson), bassist Chris
Maresh (Eric Johnson, Abra Moore, Mitch Watkins), Mike Malone (Jimmy Smith) on
sax and Chris Tondre on second guitar. In 1999 Jazz Gunn released “Concepts of
Mate Ma Toot”.
With good response for Jazz Gunn from critics
and fans alike Willie wanted to further this kind of experience, so he
started looking for a top producer, someone who had worked in both jazz and
rock to provide a more progressive and open approach than might be obtained
from someone who only works in jazz. In his research he met Ronan Chris Murphy,
who had worked with King Crimson and Chucho Valdes amongst others. In 2001,
Willie met and recorded with Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto, the rhythm section
of King Crimson, and their work was later overdubbed with Mike Keneally (Frank
Zappa) on keyboards and Ephraim Owens
on trumpet. Final mixing was complete in early 2002 and “Spiral Out” was released on DIW Diskunion in 2003 and re-released
in 2005. (The first WD-41 redordings will be released on June 16, 2009 at CD Baby and iTunes)
Willie Oteri has collaborated and performed with Tony Levin (Peter
Gabriel, KingCrimson, John Lennon) Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, XTC),
Mike Keneally(Frank Zappa), Jerry Marotta (Peter Gabriel), Stu Hamm (Joe
Satriani, SteveVai) and others including Ronan Chris Murphy (producer and
musician), Brannen Temple (Sheena Easton, Kevin Paige, Robben Ford, Eric
Johnson), bassist Chris Maresh (Eric Johnson, Abra Moore, Mitch Watkins), Mike
Malone (Jimmy Smith) and Ephraim Owens (Erika Badu). The breadth of such performing and
recording situations is a testament to his musical versatility and talent. In
recent years, it is Oteri’s role as composer and band leader which has garnered
him increasing notoriety coupled with a notable unique style on guitar.
Willie returned to Austin Texas in 2008 from nearly four
years in Padua, Italy. In Austin he hooked up with longtime friend Dave Laczko to
form WD-41 again exploring beyond the boundaries of various genres.
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"Startling and innovative with licks that are
delightfully his own."
---Peoples Press
“Makes you wonder what Crimson would be like if Oteri took
over Belew's guitar chair - possibly re-invigorated!"
---Four Thumbs UP! Manny lunch - Downtown Music Gallery NY
Note from Willie: It was nice of Manny to say this and I find it quite amusing. I mean, Wow, that would be some heavy shoes to fill!!! Thanks Manny.
"Initially Oteri offers a more languid approach that
creates mood, something rather lacking among this column’s CDs, with their
in-yer-face anxiety to please.”
-- Stuart Nicholson - JazzTimes
"Jamming with
you must be one of the greatest things--your music sounds great, and it always
amazes me how far you can stretch a musical idea. Brilliant!"
--Guitarist Enrico Crivellaro
Partial Discography:
Willie Oteri “Spiral Out" 2003- 2005 DIW
DiskUnion with Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Mike Keneally, Ronan Chris Murphy
and Ephraim Owens.
"Destroying Silence" VenetoWest Records
2006.
"Jazz Gunn" Concepts of Matematoot 2000
with Brannen Temple, Chris Maresh, Ephraim Owens, Mike Malone, and Chris Tondre.
"Violet Crown" aka Seaman’s Quartet,
Herkemer Music 2001 – Producer – Steel Guitar.
"Perseverana"JSW Records 1998.
Willy's Cry.... 1995.
session work
with, Cookie Marenco, Bob Seger, Violet Crown, Red Ragged Rose, Tony Levin,
Mike Keneally, Stu Hamm, Jerry Marotta and more.
TV theme for "Fast Draw" 1983(?).