Ken Louis is a Jazz Guitar disciple out of Tampa, Florida who since retiring, has pursued his love of Jazz Guitar by being both a devotee and performer. Ken is also a wonderful portrait artist as some of his work below may attest to!
Jazz Guitar Life would like to thank Jazz Guitarist Ken Louis for sharing his beautiful arch-top with us all! Enjoy 🙂
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I had always been a rock guitarist since the 1960s in various garage bands around the east side of Detroit. My dad was a big jazz fan and amateur drummer who always took me to jazz concerts with him in the Detroit and metropolitan areas.
It wasn’t until I finished my neurosurgery residency in 1983 that I decided to devote myself to playing jazz guitar. I initially started lessons with John Importuno in the Tampa area, and he told me about this “new guy,” Bob Benedetto, who was making jazz arch tops and lived in the area. Obviously he wasn’t that new but he was to me. John introduced us (John currently makes violins and bows – he learned his craft from Bob, as did John Buscarino who was a student of Bob’s then) and I took a tour of Bob’s guitar studio in Clearwater in 1987.
I became interested in a Fratello – Bob only had two models at the time – the Cremona and the Fratello. He stated the only difference between the two guitars was the amount of inlay work and ornamentation, and that if you picked one up blindfolded and played it, you would not notice any difference between the two guitars in terms of feel, playability, or sound. Bob also pointed out that he used techniques very similar to that of Stradivarius in making his guitars, including tap tuning the wood to decide where to cut his patterns, to hand carve all of the surfaces. and also constructing the guitar similar to that of a Stradivarius violin, with a floating pick up, and a bridge that was held in place by the string tension only. As you can see, nothing is attached to the face of the guitar body. You can also see the multiple layer purfling around the F holes as well as around the fingerboard and body itself. Bob also personally aged all of his own woods at his shop.
I told Bob that I was interested in one of his guitars and half jokingly said if someone puts down a deposit and cancels, to give me a call. Little did I know a few months later that that would happen, and that’s how I obtained my current Fratello back in 1988. It had all of my specifications and had not been stained yet. I asked Bob to please do a traditional French sunburst with the grain of the wood still visible in the darkest areas such as the edge of the body. The first time I picked it up I could not believe how light it was, and the first time I played it, I could not believe how loud it was unamplified. Also, with amplification, it had a beautiful and well balanced sound.
Since 1983 to the present, I’ve always kept that guitar with me and taken it whenever I had to evacuate my home in Tampa because of hurricanes. It was sort of a running joke with my wife. Since I fully retired in 2019, I’ve devoted my time to becoming a better jazz guitarist, especially playing in groups as well as solo. I still take regular lessons, and play in the local playhouse orchestra pit, the high school orchestra pit, and the local college Jazz Band at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC). I also sit in on jazz improv nights at the local workshop here on Wednesdays. With interlochen and Bob James here there is a lot of talent that I’m exposed to, as well as many retired jazz artists. I’ve always been a big believer in the saying that if you’re the most talented person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
I’ve always felt it was a responsibility to play that guitar on a regular basis, and having such a nice guitar has been a big stimulus in terms of continuing to play. I believe there is a similar philosophy surrounding Stradivarius instruments. They are loaned/leased out to players so that they are used and appreciated every day. I don’t consider it nor any of my other instruments and possessions as simply collector’s items. The guitar is very balanced and very responsive, which is both good but also can be “bad,” in that one has to be very aware of dynamics and technique with both hands. The guitar amplifies all of that, and as a result I think makes me a better player.
I’ve also stayed in contact with Bob and more recently Howard Paul. My other teacher Barry Greene when we both lived in Tampa loved that guitar too – certainly more than me. Barry switched from being a Buscarino player to a Benedetto player not too long after playing mine. I’ve stayed in touch with Barry as well. Bob Benedetto at times checks back with me asking how “the baby” is doing. I always reply with “I’m fine” 🙂 I guess my guitar will always be more famous than I.
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