Lawson Rollins
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Short description|American guitarist}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Lawson Rollins
| birth_date =
| birth_place = North Carolina, U.S.
| genre = Latin jazz, world, new-age
| occupation = Musician, composer
| instrument = Guitar
| years_active =
| label = Infinita
| associated_acts = Young & Rollins
| website = {{URL|lawsonrollins.com}}
}}
Lawson Rollins is an American guitarist from North Carolina{{cite web|url=http://www.wanderingeducators.com/books-film/music/espirito-extraordinary-world-music-journey-lawson-rollins.html|title=Espirito: An Extraordinary World Music Journey with Lawson Rollins|publisher=Wandering Educators|date=February 22, 2010|accessdate=November 12, 2010}} noted for his virtuoso fingerstyle technique and melodic compositional skills.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1705599|title=Lawson Rollins|publisher=All Music Guide|accessdate=May 30, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/biography|title=LawsonRollinsBio|publisher=LawsonRollins.com|accessdate=December 13, 2014}} Guitar Player magazine ranked him as one of the "50 Best Acoustic Guitarists of All Time".{{cite web|url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/50-of-the-best-acoustic-guitarists-of-all-time|title=GuitarPlayerMagazine|date=July 18, 2017|publisher=GuitarPlayerMagazine.com|accessdate=January 1, 2019}} His music has risen to #1 on the Billboard charts and is generally classed as Latin jazz and world music, with elements of samba, bossa nova, Middle Eastern, classical guitar, flamenco, and shred guitar. {{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/lawson-rollins/chart-history/jsi/|title=Billboard Chart History|publisher=Nielsen Company|accessdate=May 13, 2024}} He often employs fast minor scales and diminished scale solo runs to his compositions which are executed in the flamenco picado style.
Career
He is best known for his compositions Free to Fly, World of Wonder, The Fire Cadenza, Santa Ana Wind, Flight, Daybreak, Infinita, and Moonlight Samba and his albums Rise, True North, Dark Matter, Airwaves: The Greatest Hits, Infinite Chill (the remix sessions), 3 Minutes To Midnight, Traveler, Infinita, Espirito, Elevation and Full Circle which were all critically acclaimed by the jazz and guitar communities.{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/pdfs/GP_Feb_2012_Interview.pdf |title=Guitar Player Magazine article |publisher=Guitar Player Magazine |accessdate=June 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102012904/http://www.lawsonrollins.com/pdfs/GP_Feb_2012_Interview.pdf |archivedate=November 2, 2013 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzreview.com/reviews/latest-cd-track-reviews/item/25553.html|title=Infinita|publisher=Jazz Review|accessdate=November 12, 2010}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite web|url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688470a25981d3d912c6a77/t/572be19c86db439f9e78483c/1462493597680/AllAboutJazz.pdf|title=Lawson Rollins|publisher=All About Jazz|accessdate=November 12, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/pdfs/All%20About%20Jazz%20-%20Espirito.pdf|title=Review of Espirito|publisher=All About Jazz|accessdate=May 31, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314231304/http://www.lawsonrollins.com/pdfs/All%20About%20Jazz%20-%20Espirito.pdf|archivedate=March 14, 2012}} He has reached a wide audience on both radio and the internet. Video performances of Locomotion, The Fire Cadenza and Santa Ana Wind have been viewed millions of times on YouTube.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ9PRzIyzFA|title=YouTube|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=May 31, 2011}} His songs "After Twilight", "Free to Fly", "Bluewave Bossanova", "World of Wonder", "Island Time", "Flight", "Daybreak", "Moonlight Samba," and "Infinita" have proven popular on jazz radio stations and landed on the Billboard Top 30 contemporary jazz radio chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.https://www.billboard.com/artist/lawson-rollins/chart-history/jsi/|title=Jazz Radio Chart Songs|publisher=Nielsen Company|accessdate=June 27, 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/Billboard_Recurrent_Chart.jpg|title=Moonlight Samba|publisher=Nielsen Company|accessdate=May 31, 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713192801/http://www.lawsonrollins.com/Billboard_Recurrent_Chart.jpg|archivedate=July 13, 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/lawson-rollins/chart-history|title=Infinita|publisher=Nielsen Company|accessdate=May 31, 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/lawson-rollins/chart-history|title=Flight|publisher=Nielsen Company|accessdate=March 5, 2014}} His song "After Twilight" hit number 1 on the Billboard contemporary jazz radio chart.{{cite web|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/lawson-rollins/chart-history/jsi/|title=Billboard Chart History|publisher=Nielsen Company|accessdate=May 9, 2024}} His album Full Circle landed on the Billboard Top 10 World Music album sales chart{{cite web|url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5688470a25981d3d912c6a77/t/5a6a5e06e2c483f077c91193/1516920327384/Screen+Shot+2018-01-25+at+2.43.41+PM.png|title=BillboardChart|publisher=Nielsen Company|accessdate=August 24, 2013}} and he was a Top 100 Artist of the Year on radio as ranked by RadioWave. The song "Shifting Seasons" from Full Circle won the U.S. Songwriting Competition first place award for instrumental song of the year. Lawson was also awarded third place for Artist of the Year. In a separate year he received another first place award in the USA Songwriting Competition for the title track of his Traveler album. The Traveler album also won three Gold Medals in the Global Music Awards for Instrumentalist, Album, and Top 10 Albums of the Year.{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/images/RadioWaveTop100.pdf|title=RadioWaveChart|publisher=RadioWave|accessdate=January 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110210219/http://www.lawsonrollins.com/images/RadioWaveTop100.pdf|archive-date=January 10, 2014|url-status=dead}}
Influenced by Andrés Segovia from his mid-teens, he developed an interest in jazz, flamenco, and improvisational Latin and Brazilian guitar styles in his early twenties.{{cite web|title=Jazz times, Volume 36, Issues 6-10|publisher=I. Sabin|year= 2006|page=48}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/biography|title=Biography|publisher=Lawson Rollins|accessdate=May 31, 2011}} After graduating from Duke University he earned a graduate degree from the London School of Economics, then moved to Washington, D.C. in 1998 where he met guitarist Daniel Young (Dan Young) at a local flamenco shop and formed the Latin guitar fusion group Young & Rollins. They released several albums together, including Salsa Flamenca, which landed on the Billboard Chart in 2000, Sevilla (2001), Esperanza (2005) and Mosaic (2006) and played at venues such as the Kennedy Center and Sydney Opera House. Rollins was based in Washington until 2007 when he moved to San Francisco.{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/biography|title=Biography|publisher=Lawson Rollins|accessdate=November 12, 2010}}
His solo albums are characterized by an eclectic mix of Middle Eastern, Brazilian, and Arabic music fused with Spanish guitar and backed by an all-star cast of musicians from around the world including Israeli singer and composer Idan Raichel, Brazilian singer Flora Purim, percussionist Airto Moreira, Cuban drummer Horacio Hernandez, Shahin Shahida of Shahin and Sepehr, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Iranian kamancheh player Kayhan Kalhor, Grammy-winning violinists Mads Tolling and Charlie Bisharat, and electric guitarist Buckethead, among others.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1705599|title=AMG review|publisher=All Music Guide|accessdate=May 31, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/biography|title=Biography|publisher=Lawson Rollins|accessdate=August 4, 2011}}
Lawson is a voting member of NARAS, a member of A2IM, and owner of the independent world music record label Infinita Records.{{cite web|url=http://www.lawsonrollins.com/links.html|title=NARAS member|publisher=Lawson Rollins|accessdate=November 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905013937/http://www.lawsonrollins.com/links.html|archive-date=September 5, 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.infinitarecords.com|title=Infinita Records|publisher=Infinita Records|accessdate=November 14, 2012}}
Discography
= Studio lbums =
As part of Young & Rollins
- Salsa Flamenca (2000)
- Sevilla (2001)
- Esperanza (2005)
- Mosaic (2006)
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album ! colspan="1"| Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Label |
|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:50px;"| US |
| 2008
| style="text-align:left;"| Infinita | — | rowspan="12"| Infinita |
| 2010
| style="text-align:left;"| Espirito | — |
| 2011
| style="text-align:left;"| Elevation | — |
| 2013
| style="text-align:left;"| Full Circle | 8 |
| rowspan="2"| 2015
| style="text-align:left;"| Traveler | — |
| style="text-align:left;"| Infinite Chill: The Remix Sessions
| — |
| 2017
| style="text-align:left;"| 3 Minutes to Midnight | — |
| 2019
| style="text-align:left;"| Dark Matter: Music for Film | — |
| 2020
| style="text-align:left;"| True North | — |
| 2021
| style="text-align:left;"| Rise | — |
| 2023
| style="text-align:left;"| Heartwood | — |
| 2024
| style="text-align:left;"| Infinite Chill, Vol. 2 | — |
| colspan="4" style="font-size:90%" |"—" denotes a recording that did not chart. |
= Compilation albums =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album ! colspan="1"| Peak chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Label |
|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:50px;"| US |
| 2018
| style="text-align:left;"| Airwaves: The Greatest Hits | — | Infinita |
| colspan="4" style="font-size:90%" |"—" denotes a recording that did not chart. |
= Singles =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center";
|+ Charted singles ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Title ! colspan="1"| Chart positions ! rowspan="2"| Album |
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:50px;"| Smooth Jazz |
| 2008
| style="text-align:left;"| "Infinita" | 30 | Infinita |
| 2010
| style="text-align:left;"| "Moonlight Samba" | 18 | Espirito |
| 2011
| style="text-align:left;"| "Daybreak" | 22 |
| 2014
| style="text-align:left;"| "Flight" | 25 | Full Circle |
| 2017
| style="text-align:left;"| "Island Time" | 13 | 3 Minutes to Midnight |
| 2018
| style="text-align:left;"| "World of Wonder" | 8 | Airwaves: The Greatest Hits |
| 2020
| style="text-align:left;"| "Bluewave Bossanova" | 23 | True North |
| 2022
| style="text-align:left;"| "Free to Fly" | 14 | Rise |
| 2024
| style="text-align:left;"| "After Twilight" | 1 | Infinite Chill, Vol. 2 |
Solo
- The Fire Cadenza (Infinita Records, 2009)
- Santa Ana Wind (Infinita Records, 2009)
- Locomotion (Infinita Records, 2012)
- Segovia Thru the Snow (Infinita Records, 2022)
- The Calling (Infinita Records, 2022)
- The Eternal Dance (Infinita Records, 2023)
- Sunlight Bossa Nova (Infinita Records, 2023)
Collaborations
- Idan Raichel & Lawson Rollins: And If You Will Come To Me (Cumbancha Records, 2018)
- Idan Raichel & Lawson Rollins: And If You Will Come To Me [Acoustic Version] (Cumbancha Records, 2018)
= Compilation appearances =
Solo
- Guitar Greats: The Best of New Flamenco – Volume I (2000) (Baja/TSR)
- Gypsy Spice: Best of New Flamenco (2009) (Baja/TSR)
- Guitar Greats: The Best of New Flamenco – Volume III (2013) (Baja/TSR)
As part of Young & Rollins
- Tabu: Mondo Flamenco (2001) (Narada)
- Musica del Sol (2001) (Williams Sonoma/EMI-Capitol)
- Guitar Greats: The Best of New Flamenco – Volume II (2002) (Baja/TSR)
- Caravan: Passion and Magic (2005) (Sugo)
- Bolero Gypsies: New Flamenco – Volume I (2005) (Bolero)
- Bolero Gypsies: New Flamenco – Volume II (2006) (Bolero)
Awards
- USA Songwriting Competition – 2015, 1st Place Instrumental
- Global Music Awards – 2015, three Gold Medals: Instrumentalist, Album & Top 10 Albums of the Year
- USA Songwriting Competition – 2014, 1st Place Instrumental; 3rd Overall Best Artist
- International Songwriting Competition – 2015, Finalist Instrumental
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.lawsonrollins.com/ Lawson Rollins official website]
- [http://www.youngandrollins.com/ Lawson's guitar duo: Young & Rollins official website]
- {{Allmusic|id=mn0000786629|label=Lawson Rollins}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rollins, Lawson}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)