Charlie Apicella was voted onto the 84th and 86th DownBeat Readers Poll for Guitar.

He studied composition and improvisation with musical titans Yusef Lateef and Pat Martino and was trained as a historian by Archie Shepp and Dr. Billy Taylor. As a young guitarist he met his idol BB King, who offered him advice and shared some stories.

He has performed concerts and recorded with jazz legends Dave Holland, Sonny Fortune, John Blake, Jr., and Avery Sharpe as well as contemporary masters Joe Magnarelli, Vic Juris, Dave Stryker, Don Braden, and Jon Herington of Steely Dan.

In 2022 he formed The Griots Speak with bassist William Parker, saxophonist Daniel Carter, and percussionist Juma Sultan who is known for his work with Jimi Hendrix.

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Charlie Apicella is the founder and program director of Blues Alive: ancestral voices of the blues

He is Vice President of Education for the North Jersey Blues Society

He is an Eastman Guitars Featured Artist a

Guild Guitars Sponsored Artist and a

ZT Amplifiers Official Artist

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He has been a TrueFire educator since 2018 

and has published two masterclass lessons for DownBeat magazine