Steve Khan

According to Steve Khan, his father, lyricist Sammy Cahn, "loved to hear of any and all versions of his songs".[1] Thus Khan grew up in a house with music.[1] He took piano lessons as a child and played drums for the surf rock band the Chantays.[1] The band's guitarist exposed him to the albums Tough Talk by The Crusaders and Movin' Wes by Wes Montgomery.[1] In his late teens he quit the drums and started playing guitar.[1] He was a member of the R&B band Friends of Distinction, recorded with keyboardist Phil Moore, then played on the album Bullitt by Wilton Felder ("one of my heroes").[1] Despite his father's advice to avoid a career in the music business, he graduated from UCLA with a degree in music composition and theory.[1]

In the early 1970s, he performed in an acoustic guitar duo with Larry Coryell and was a member of the Brecker Brothers band.[1] As a session musician, he appeared on albums by Ashford & Simpson, Rupert Holmes, Billy Joel, and Steely Dan.[2] He was signed to Columbia Records through the efforts of Bobby Colomby and Bob James.[1] On his first three albums Tightrope (1977), The Blue Man (1978), and Arrows (1979), he was trying "to single-handledly keep alive the sound of the original Brecker Brothers band."[1] His next album was Evidence (1980), which contained an eighteen-minute medley of songs by Thelonious Monk.[3]

He has also produced recordings for fellow guitarists Larry Coryell, Mike Stern, Biréli Lagrène, and Bill Connors, as well as pianist Eliane Elias[4]

• Grammy Award nomination, Local Color (1987)
• Grammy Award nomination, Borrowed Time (2007)
• Named to list of "22 All-Time Greatest Jazz Guitarists", Jazz Life magazine (1998)[4]

• Pentatonic Khancepts (Alfred Music, 2002)
• Contemporary Chord Khancepts (Alfred Music, 1996)
• Wes Montgomery Guitar Folio (Jamey Aebersold, 1973)
• Pat Martino: The Early Years (Alfred Music, 1991)

• Official website