ABOUT

Guitarist/composer/educator Steve Kovalcheck has a diverse musical background. Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Kovalcheck grew up in a rich musical environment. While his roots are in hard rock, he became interested in jazz in his late teens, and has gone on to work with well known artists including Jeff Hamilton, Joey DeFrancesco, Terrell Stafford, Grammy Award winner Howard Levy, Jeff Coffin, Pat Bianchi, Lewis Nash, Danny Gottlieb, Adam Nussbaum, Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, and Ingrid Jensen, to name a few. Outside of the jazz world, Kovalcheck has worked with artists and producers including Robinella and the C.C. String Band, Carrie Rodriguez, Tommy Sims, Charles “Wigg” Walker, Russ Titelman, Don Williams, and many others. While Kovalcheck’s main focus has been on jazz guitar and jazz education, he maintains an active involvement in rock, blues, funk, country, and bluegrass styles on the guitar. 

While having worked professionally in Nashville and New York, Kovalcheck has called Colorado home since 2007. He is active as a performer in Colorado, across the US, and internationally, having performed in China, Sweden, France, and Romania. While in Colorado, Kovalcheck serves on the faculty for the DownBeat award-winning jazz studies department at the University of Northern Colorado where he teaches jazz guitar, jazz improvisation, small jazz ensembles, and jazz composition. He is also active giving clinics nationally and internationally. 

Kovalcheck recently released Ghost Orchid, a quartet recording of all original music performed by some of Colorado’s finest jazz musicians; Paul Romaine on drums, Peter Sommer on tenor sax, and Ken Walker on bass. Kovalcheck also has a number of creative projects to look out for in the coming months (planned releases in 2022). These projects include a new trio recording that is a step in a different artistic direction. This recording, Nine Mile Hill, is a musical homage to Kovalcheck’s roots in Nashville. Blending country, blues, rock, and jazz influences, this recording features the drummer Danny Gottlieb (Pat Metheny Group, Gary Burton, Mahavishnu Orchestra) and bassist Jon Hamar (Jeff Hamilton trio/Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra). Kovalcheck also participated in a collective recording with bassist Jon Hamar and pianist Dawn Clement, release date pending. He also recently recorded with the Ari Hoenig and the Ben Markley Big Band, an album that will be released in June of 2022.