ALEX MACHACEK

Born in 1972, Machacek grew up in Vienna, where he began studying classical guitar at the age of eight and continued for six years. While his early interest in guitar outside the classical field tended toward rock (Queen, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden), he later gravitated toward jazz, with a particular interest in jazz guitar great Joe Pass. “I was pretty much a straight ahead player back then because that was what the people played around me. I learned the Great American songbook and just played as much as I could. When I was 13 or 14, somebody gave me a Joe Pass record and I became the biggest Joe Pass fan in the 14th district of Vienna. I fell in love with this guy’s playing.” At age 16, Alex enrolled at the Conservatory of Vienna, where he studied jazz guitar. “Usually you go to school until you’re 18 and then enter read more...