“Shawn Needham is a fiery and versatile guitarist whose playing ranges from advanced jazz to fusion and rock.
      On his first major record, Needham teams up with the passionate tenor-saxophonist Eric Crystal, Pianist-organist Michael Aaberg, bassist Jon Evans and drummer
Alan Hall for six of his colorful originals and Wayne Krantz’s “Whippersnapper.”
Whether it is the fiery fusion piece “Funkasaurus,” jamming on the
medium up-tempo blues “Camille’s Tune” or rocking out on “Black Sheep,” the guitarist plays with strong creativity and the music sounds quite original, fresh and full of spirit.
       There are many great jazz/rock guitarists on the scene these days.
Shawn Needham has the potential to take his place next to the major stylists.”

                                        -Scott Yanow, author of nine jazz books
                                          including Jazz on Record 1917-76, Jazz on Film
                                        and Trumpet Kings
                                                                              

www.scottyanow.com
                                       

Guitarist Shawn Needham submitted his seven song demo CD-R entitled It's Been Said, which features a variety of instrumental fusion and jazz tracks, all instrumental, and puts the spotlight on the fluid fretwork which holds it all together. Unlike a lot of fusion players who dial in a favorite tone and stick with it for years, Needham likes to use a number of different tones, selecting a tone that best suits the composition. He uses a tough overdriven tone to supercharge the energetic "Lunchbox", while selecting a more Metheny-esque sound for the jazzy "Crash And Burn". His cover of "Feel Like Makin' Love" features a buttery smooth chord melody and double tracked comping, before giving way to a flowing overdriven solo - nice! Needham has mastered the delivery of lush, lyrical and melodic lines while throwing in harmonic surprises to keep the listener engaged, which should give fans reason to anticipate his upcoming new albums.