In this edition of Rock Lick Legends we take a look at the jazz fusion player, Frank Gambale. Gambale’s style is a mixture of the bebop tradition, 1970s jazz fusion and rock, his musical vocabulary is vast which is demonstrated by his use of many scales for jazz improvisation, however, in this column we will concentrate on Gambale’s use of the minor pentatonic. Gambale is one of the pioneers of sweep picking and has written and produced videos on this topic and how to use the technique in jazz improvisation, he has played with Chick Corea and Vital Information.

For many years Gambale used Ibanez guitars but switched to Yamaha’s. For amplification, Gambale uses a Marshall JMP-1 preamp, a Stewart PA1000 power amp and a TC Electronic G-Force multi FX, through a 4x12 Marshall JCM-900 cab with Celestion speakers; he also uses Ernie Ball Volume pedals.

Suggested Album: Frank Gambale Live

Playing Rating: Advanced