Ed Littman: “I Should Care”

Here’s guitarist Ed Littman with a jazz standard called “I Should Care.”

Ed has been a professional guitarist for many years and has taught many students along the way. He’s made a bunch of YouTube videos and even has his own channel. 

At first I didn’t recognize Ed but, after I read his bio I was convinced that I did indeed meet him somewhere in the past,  perhaps at a concert or a club venue.

Biography:

“Ed Littman was born in New York City and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, the youngest of three children. Both parents are professional artists and opened Ed up to a world of creativity at a young age. Early on, Ed had been exposed to classical music, and at the age of 12, Ed heard Elvis Presley and fell in love with the Rock and Roll beat. Soon after, his parents Wally & Rosemary bought him his first album, The Beatles, “Revolver” which started an infatuation with that group and led to exposure to such artists as Chicago, Pink Floyd, and Jimi Hendrix.

In junior high school, Ed started playing trumpet in the school orchestra. But it was when he picked up the guitar at age 16, that he knew what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. His first teacher, Van Morretti, taught him how to read music and understand Jazz Harmony and used chord melodies on standard tunes. Ed’s love of Blues and Rock had him checking out the likes of the British guitar gods Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck and Southern Rock heroes such as the Allman Brothers and The Charlie Daniels Band. Soon he was jamming with local musicians who introduced him to Jazz Fusion and artists such as John McLaughlin, Bill Bruford and Alan Holdsworth.

After graduating high school in 1980, Ed went to New Jersey’s Bergen Community College, where he immersed himself in music classes. He then continued to pursue music at Boston’s Berklee College Of Music where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Professional Music. While continuing to live and study in Boston, he exposed himself to all styles of Jazz and had begun to develop his unique style of playing and writing. Ed was very influenced by his Harmony classes with Associate Professor, Donny Nolan as well as other teachers like Al Difino and Jon Damien.

Upon graduating in 1986, Ed started and joined numerous Boston bands such as “Salsa Nova (Latin Jazz and Bossa Nova standards) and the Top 40 group “FM” which toured extensively throughout New England. In 1989, he worked with young people in presenting “Discovering The Blues”, an American musical discovery series that took a 45-minute journey from the roots of the Blues to current-day sounds. This program was presented to over 4,000 children in the New England area.

Ed has been teaching music for over 25 years and In 1986 established Littman Guitar Studios to facilitate a wide range of student needs.The focus is on getting the student to play as soon as possible while having fun getting over the growing pains. Ed has taught hundreds if not thousands of students over the years. He has developed a concept & proven method that’s fun, makes sense and that students have come back to year after year.”  read more