Washington D.C. has always been home to several great guitarists: Bill Harris, Charlie Byrd, Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton to name just a few. There are a number of places to hear jazz and blues guitar music in DC. A glance at the website www.dcjazz.com reveals a multitude of venue listings with a calendar to see who is performing where on any given date. DC's City Paper and the Washington Post's Friday edition Weekend section are other great resources. Radio station WPFW, 89.3 FM www.wpfw.org features Tom Cole's show "G-Strings" every Sunday morning. Tom has been hosting "G-Strings" for about 25 years, spinning guitar and stringed instrument music of all styles with a focus on guitarists passing through town as well as recording guitarists in the DC area. He has an impressive archive of interviews with great guitarists that he has conducted at the WPFW studios.

The biggest concentration of jazz venues in DC is located along a four-block strip on U Street in northwest D.C. You'll find Bohemian Caverns, Cafe Nema, Twins Jazz, Utopia, Sala Thai, The Islander, Jo Jo's and the Lincoln Theatre. Wes Montgomery and John Coltrane used to play at Bohemian Caverns and Duke Ellington at the Lincoln Theatre, both historic venues for jazz.

The U Street music scene has been experiencing a Renaissance where it's not uncommon to see musicians spending their break time in other clubs enjoying the music of their peers or sitting-in after their gigs are over. Twins Jazz is run by two Ethiopian twin sisters that have operated a successful club called Twins Lounge Uptown on Colorado Ave. Twins gained notoriety thru bringing in big-name artists and charging reasonable covers in addition to hosting a popular jazz jam session. Speaking of jam sessions, the club HR- 57 on 14th street a few blocks from the U Street clubs is now famous for them. Presently HR-57 has jazz jams on Wednesday and Thursday with Friday and Saturday reserved for jazz performances.

Blues Alley in Georgetown is probably the most well known jazz club in DC. Guitarists such as Larry Carlton, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Jim Hall, Richie Havens, and Barney Kessel are just a few who have performed at the converted horse stable located in an alley named after the club.

The Smithsonian's Natural History Museum has had music every Fri. night for years in their Jazz Café. Run by Public Affairs Director Randall Kremer, the gig started out by featuring almost exclusively guitarists. The scope has broadened to include almost every type of group, recently many Latin bands, but always coming back to what put the Jazz Café on the map: guitarists. Practically right next-door is a long-standing gig at the Hirshhorn Museum in the Sculpture Garden. This summertime series features many local musicians, often guitarists.

One of the classiest venues in DC would have to be the Kennedy Center. The Thelonious Monk Guitar competition was held there last year featuring many great young guitarists. The Kennedy Center has several halls with a newly added Jazz Club. This past year has seen many guitarists come through the KC Jazz Club such as Peter Bernstein and Monk Competition winner Lage Lund.

Near Dupont Circle is one of the oldest hotels in DC, the Tabard Inn. For the last 10 years jazz bassist-composer Victor Dvoskin has led a gig there every Sunday night featuring a different guitarist every week. Sometimes a guitarist in town playing at the Smithsonian will share the stage with the Russian bassist of note. Another longstanding gig in DC is the Westminster Church's Jazz Series with a famous buffet and low cover charge. Finally, the popular John E. Marlowe guitar series features some big-name solo guitarists of all styles at different venues, recently the Avalon Theater.

Every week there seems to be a good guitarist to hear in the DC area at one of the many venues. As you can see, there is much more to DC than just politics!