Ben Tyree: Sonic Architect

"Tyree had this way of evoking
the most precise utterances,
delicate yet so deliberate, it
was sure-footed dexterity and
then some."

-audiologo, 2007

”You’re kickin’ much ass, my man!
I love what you're doin’!”

-DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight
(Guitarist for Parliament/Funkadelic,
George Clinton, Brides of Dr.
Funkenstein, Macy Gray, and more…),
2006

"Ben Tyree came aboard in June
of 2005 and has added the flash
and guitar God glamour that we
needed. He has shown a level
of commitment to his craft,
career and the group that is
admirable."

-Boston Fielder (MuthaWit
figurehead; CEO, BossTon
Communications; President,
Ode In:Devas Productions),
2006

"...music is very accomplished...
playing reminds me of early John
McLaughlin."

-Ty Cumbie (NYC guitarist,
writer, and curator of Free
Zone Music Series), 2006

"...might be best known for his
progressive art-rock ensemble
(Miscellaneous Flux) but if you
look deeper than the dazzle of
the group's stream-of-conscious-
ness hip-hop lyrics and angular
arrangements, you'll find chops
befitting an accomplished jazz
guitarist."

-The Washington Post, 2005

Biography

Guitarist, composer, and producer, Ben Tyree began his musical journey in Washington, DC, exploring the piano and violin before discovering his passion for the guitar at age 11. Tyree attended the world-renowned Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where he also played with a number of bands and recording projects. He eventually performed his first gig in New York City at the Apollo Theater with high school band Hidden Image winning 2nd. Place on amateur night.

While he later studied jazz performance, composition, and classical guitar at Howard University, his brain child Miscellaneous Flux released the critically acclaimed “Dead In Dreams” in 2002 winning a "Wammie" (Washington Area Music Association award). The project received 4 other nominations, in addition to an independent nomination for best urban contemporary instrumentalist for Tyree himself.

Currently residing in Brooklyn, NY, Tyree regularly works with a number of exciting artists and ensembles, including Boston Fielder's MuthaWit Orchestra and the related URB ALT Festivals, where he has had the opportunity to work with a diversity of artists, including Res, Kyp Malone (TV On The Radio), V. Jeffrey Smith (The Family Stand), and J.T. Lewis (Harriet Tubman, Vanessa Williams, Sting, Herbie Hancock); the improv. jazz/electronic/drum and bass trio Chaos Frame; Nomi, Stephanie Rooker, Burnt Sugar: The Arkestra Chamber, and Jeremy Clemons’ Soul Understated.

He is an in-demand session guitarist, freelance jazz guitarist and instructor, who also writes for Ugly Planet Media and Modern Guitars Magazine, interviewing such musicians as Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest), Mike Stern and Genesis P-Orridge. Several of his scores have been featured in indie films, most notably a forthcoming documentary on the life of Omar Khayyam. Tyree’s music and/or guitar playing has also been used by clients such as Green Team USA and ESPN. In February 2008, Ben Tyree joined the Solar Guitars roster with guitar legends Blackbyrd McKnight and Dean Brown and plans to release an album with the label by the end of the year.

Tyree has also performed or collaborated with Clark Terry, Vernon Reid (Living Colour, Masque, Yohimbe Brothers), Frank Foster, Elliot Sharp, Delfeayo Marsalis, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Corey Glover (Living Colour), Angelo Moore (Fishbone, Dr. Madd Vibe), HR (Bad Brains), The Family Stand, Roy Hargrove, Graham Haynes, Grady Tate, Keter Betts, Warren Smith, Stacy Dillard, Leron Thomas, Ralph Alessi, and Lakecia Benjamin to name a few. He also studied guitar with Mike Stern and Paul Bollenback.

Discography:

John Johnson: Funkular Crouton (202 Digital, 2008)

Stephanie Rooker: Tellin You Right Now (2008)

Sonic Architectures: Volume 1 (2007)

Miscellaneous Flux:
Type 1 Information (2006)

Dexter Myers: RocketLove34 (2006)

The Dead Air Project: Die & M. Fusion (CD Reissue) (2004)

Miscellaneous Flux: Live Flux (2004)

Miscellaneous Flux:
Dead In Dreams (2002)

The Dead Air Project: Die & M. Fusion (Vinyl Version) (2002)

Motion: Movie Soundtrack (2001)

Miscellaneous Flux: EP (2000)

Vector: Contagious Images (2000)

Spirit Airport: In The Corner (2000)

12th. House:
The Twelfth House (2000)

Bell X-1: Time Bomb (1999)

Bell X-1: Hemp Hop (1999)

Howard University Jazz Ensemble,
HUJE (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001)

Purple Legion (1996)

Purple Legion: EP (1995)

BenTyree.net