Warren Sirota

Warren Sirota is a multifaceted musician with a rich and diverse career spanning avant-garde composition, electronic music, and gypsy jazz guitar. His musical journey began with influences from psychedelic rock and pioneering electronic works like "Switched On Bach" by Wendy Carlos and "Touch" by Morton Subotnick.

After decades playing in rock bands, Sirota was invited to become a founding member of San Francisco's Electric Guitar Quartet in the late 1980s. This led to five years of arranging classical string quartets for 4 custom electric guitars with fuzzboxes, wahs, flangers and the like, and performing in tuxedos for Bay Area audiences. The group was noticed by Guitar Player magazine, which not only featured the band, but later hired Warren to take over the authorship of the influential "Electronic Guitarist" column. One highlight of Sirota's stint with the magazine was his long interview the the legend himself, Les Paul, which was given a front cover.

Sirota pursued his passion for electronic composition at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he earned a Master's Degree in Electronic Composition. During his studies, he had the privilege of learning from renowned composers David Rosenboom and Conlon Nancarrow. This academic foundation laid the groundwork for his future innovations in music technology and composition.

Sirota's avant-garde work as a guitarist and composer gained international recognition. He showcased his MIDI guitar compositions at prestigious events like the Free Jazz Festival in Brazil and the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA). His innovative approach to guitar and electronic music culminated in several CD releases, including the 2009 album Loops, Live & Otw which featured compositions based on live looping improvisations. He also performed live at several electronic music festivals, including the Y2K7 and Y2K9 International Live Looping Festivals. (He also wrote the User Manual for the Echoplex Digital Pro live looping device, first issued by Oberheim and later sold to Gibson).

2010 was a tumultuous year in Sirota's life after several personal losses. He needed music to be more about community and less about computer screens for him, and he "went acoustic" and started going to various open mics just to play out a bit and meet other musicians. Eventually, he made a significant shift in his musical focus, embracing the acoustic sound and improvisational spirit of gypsy jazz. He immersed himself in the gypsy jazz community, both in New York City and internationally, studying with masters of the genre such as Stephane Wrembel, and many others at various workshops. This new direction led to the formation of his band, Swing Demons, through which he continues to perform and explore the gypsy jazz style.

Sirota's journey into gypsy jazz inspired him to develop an effective practice methodology for "slow" learners (folks who get better faster by practicing really slowly, pun intended), combining original work with techniques and insights from neurobiological (and other) research, training practices used for classical musicians, and even software development practices. He has been sharing these methods at the renowned Django In June camps for the past five sessions, helping hundreds of other guitarists and musicians achieve their goals in the genre.

In addition to his performance and teaching career, Sirota is the developer and publisher of SlowGold, Windows-based software that has been assisting musicians in transcribing solos since 1998. This tool reflects his ongoing commitment to bridging technology and music education.

Warren Sirota's musical biography is a testament to his versatility as an artist, his innovative spirit, and his dedication to both pushing boundaries and preserving traditional styles. From avant-garde electronic compositions to the intricate rhythms of gypsy jazz, Sirota's career demonstrates a remarkable ability to evolve and excel across diverse musical landscapes.

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