Faculty of Media, Creative Arts, and Design News

The annual $10,000 cash prize recognizes the accomplishments of an emerging jazz musician, and supports "the pre-production, production, and/or recording of original music composed by the recipient."

Read more about Jesse Ryan and his work.

Back in his third year at Humber, Steve made a case for a business which, he happily reports, has been his full time job for nearly 5 years. He told us a bit about the business and how Humber helped him make it a reality.

What are you currently working on and what was your career path to get there?

In 2014, I started a YouTube channel called the Samurai Guitarist. Since then I have built a following of 500k followers with over 54 million views. I've branched out to doing sponsored deals, merchandising, an online guitar course and a number of other things that have built a comfortable and fulfilling life in music. I've traveled the world because of this and can't go into a guitar store without being recognized (this is still weird for me).

What other projects have you worked on since leaving Humber?

A failed country band.

How did your time at Humber prepare you for what you’re doing now?

It was very beneficial, many of the skills I learned at school I still use on a regular basis. From working in the studio to my music business class with Andy Scott, there is very little I learned that I don’t use regularly. 

Photo credit: Jenny Marrin

his first project after arrival involved making a recording with his former Humber instructors.

Dan told us more about the CD and what he learned at Humber.

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NOW

I recently released a new CD called City Abstract, featuring teachers from my Humber days: Ted Quinlan, Pat Collins, and Ted Warren. I had been living in NYC for the last 15 years and just moved back this spring, and this was the first project that I wanted to do. All three musicians had a huge impact on me when I was studying at Humber in the late 90’s, and it was an honour to be able to do a record with them.

THEN

I released a record in March of 2019 that features Steve Swallow on bass, Ben Monder on guitar, and Mark Feldman on violin. It was an absolute thrill to get to record with these legends, especially Steve Swallow, who played bass on all of my favourite Gary Burton records from the 1970s. So incredible!

I also did a trio recording with Thomas Morgan on bass and Rudy Royston on drums; that should be released in 2020. I'm very excited about this record too.

HUMBER

For me, it was huge to get to study with people that were actually out there playing on a regular basis. It really has a huge impact on young players, getting to learn from masters already out on the scene playing and doing their own thing.

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Follow Dan on social media at @DanMcCarthy on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. (Photo credit: John Rogers)