JANUARY 18-19: STAR GUITARIST WAYNE KEE

One listen, and it all makes sense. George Benson, Motown’s Wali Ali, Latin virtuoso Carlos Santana, Mile’s protégé John McLaughlin and the swinging Wes Montgomery – all legendary guitarists who helped season the pots that Wayne Kee dishes up regularly as one of North Carolina’s most in-demand guitarists.

“I’ve had the pleasure of playing or touring with a lot of great musicians,” says Kee, who has performed at such disparate venues as Madison Square Garden (with the funk group War) and London’s Palladium (with British poet/songwriter Marc Bolan and the group T. Rex). He’s hit the road with the likes of superstar jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd and songwriting dynamo Bryce Wilson (who wrote for such music giants as Whitney Houston, Babyface , Toni Braxton and Mary J. Blige). And he has been tapped by the rap masters of today, including 50 Cent, The Game and Jay-Z, for his tasty guitar lines. Yes, that is Kee kicking it with Beyoncé on a couple cuts and Dr. Dre on the soundtrack for Austin Powers’ movie, “Goldmember.”

Of course, Wayne Kee’s amazing musicality is no mistake. He was inculcated in the sounds of the soul universe – jazz, blues, R&B and gospel – from an early age.

A graduate of North Carolina Central University in Durham, he attended Yuba College in Marysville, Calif., where he studied electronic music. He also studied jazz theory at Sacramento State University.

In addition to the guitar, he is also proficient on several other instruments, including woodwinds, percussions and keys. And he’s not the only gifted Kee. The prolific musician-pastor John P. Kee and bassist extraordinaire Alphonza Kee are his brothers.

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