The talents of Grammy nominated guitar virtuoso Joaquin Lievano have garnered enthusiastic responses from both Jazz and Rock fans throughout the Americas, Europe and Japan. In addition, the modern rhythms and burning fretwork of this master's music have won him the accolades of critics world-wide. Here is what critics say about this extraordinary composer and performer: Billboard Magazine - "Nothing prepares you for the gorgeous  melodies.... (Joaquin's) meticulous arrangements and broad tonal  palette let you sink deeply into this music". Guitar Player Magazine - " ...Joaquin deftly... keeps a crowd on the  edge of their seats." Jazziz - "A veritable E-ticket adventure... some of the best ever  heard." Performing on seven major tours throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Japan and South America, he is best known for his exceptionally fine caliber of stage performances. A sought after virtuoso, his guitar work is at once refined, energizing and inspired. Born in Bogota, Colombia, his family moved to New York when he was one year old. He grew up listening to a mixture of Latin and Rock music and began to play the guitar at age eleven. Throughout his adolescence, he played with various Pop and Rock bands while honing his skills as an instrumentalist, vocalist and composer. Joaquin first gained international recognition as the guitarist that fueled some of the biggest selling Jazz-Fusion chart topping singles with the great violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. With such favorites as "Cosmic Messenger" and "Egocentric Molecules" as well as album classics Cosmic Messenger, A Taste for Passion and Civilized Evil, Joaquin's soaring guitar solos crystallized the guitar sound of the Jazz-Fusion movement. With his now legendary San Francisco based band The Warriors, Joaquin teamed up with Mahavishnu Orchestra drummer and Grammy winning producer Narada Michael Walden, bassist Keith Jones (later replaced by Randy Jackson), and the then unknown keyboardist and now Grammy winning producer, Walter Afanasieff.  Mahavishnu Orchestra violinists Jerry Goodman and later Steve Kindler were also part-time members.  Stellar performances built a West Coast cult following that filled concert halls as well as inspired other notables such as Tom Coster, Rodney Franklin and Japanese guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka to utilize Joaquin's talents. The demand for his skill as a band leader and session and touring artist grew to including work with R&B, Jazz and Adult Contemporary notables such as Gerald Albright, Steve Smith, Airto Moreira, Sheila E., Harvey Mason, Yanni, Terry Bozzio, Angela Bofill and Stacy Lattisaw to name just a few. Joaquin's first solo album "One Mind" on CBS/Global Pacific Records hit the Adult Contemporary chart at number 9 and the Jazz chart at number 14. It quickly reached the top 5 play list of radio stations around the country. Radio producers selected Joaquin's next solo album "Ecologie" as one of the top four albums of the year. His work with Dixie Dregs bassist Andy West in the band Zazen inspired Jazziz Magazine to call Zazen albums "on a par with the best work of such innovators as Tangerine Dream". Throughout his career, "this outstanding guitarist has shown prowess, versatility and most critically, an impressive depth of feeling with whomever he's played", wrote Ric Levine in Home Theater. Joaquin Lievano is a formidable talent who continues to mature to new heights of virtuosity, innovation and inspiration.