Lawson Rollins

Lawson Rollins is an American guitarist

and composer from North Carolina[1]
noted for his virtuoso fingerstyle
technique and melodic compositional
skills.[2][3] Guitar Player magazine ranked
him as one of the "50 Transcendent
Acoustic Guitarists" of all time.[4] His
music is generally classed as Latin jazz
and world music, with elements of
samba, bossa nova, Middle Eastern,
classical guitar, flamenco, and shred
guitar. He often employs fast minor
scales and diminished scale solo runs to
his compositions which are executed in
the flamenco picado style.

Lawson Rollins
Born North Carolina, U.S.

Genres Latin jazz, world, new-

age

Occupation(s) Musician

Instruments Guitar

Labels Infinita

Associated acts Young & Rollins

Website www.lawsonrollins
.com
Music career
He is best known for his compositions
World of Wonder, The Fire Cadenza, Santa
Ana Wind, Flight, Daybreak, Infinita, and
Moonlight Samba and his albums
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.[5][6][7][8] 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.[9] His songs "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.[10][11][12][13] His album Full Circle
landed on the Billboard Top 10 World
Music album sales chart[14] 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.[3][15]

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.[16][17] 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.[18]

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.[1][19][20]

Lawson is a voting member of NARAS, a

member of A2IM, and owner of the
independent world music record label
Infinita Records.[21][22]

Discography
Albums
Solo

Infinita (Infinita Records, 2008)

Espirito (Infinita Records, 2010)
Elevation (Infinita Records, 2011)
Full Circle (Infinita Records, 2013)
Infinite Chill: The Remix Sessions
(Infinita Records, 2015)
Traveler (Infinita Records, 2015)
3 Minutes to Midnight (Infinita Records,
2017)
Airwaves: The Greatest Hits (Infinita
Records, 2018)
Dark Matter: Music For Film (Infinita
Records, 2019)
As part of Young & Rollins

Salsa Flamenca (2000)

Sevilla (2001)
Esperanza (2005)
Mosaic (2006)

Singles

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)

Solo
 Locomotion (Infinita Records, 2012)
Santa Ana Wind (Infinita Records,
2009)
The Fire Cadenza (Infinita Records,
2009)

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
New Flamenco
Flamenco rumba
Young & Rollins

References
1. "Espirito: An Extraordinary World
Music Journey with Lawson Rollins" .
Wandering Educators. February 22,
2010. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
2. "Lawson Rollins" . All Music Guide.
Retrieved May 30, 2011.
3. "LawsonRollinsBio" .
LawsonRollins.com. Retrieved
December 13, 2014.
4. "GuitarPlayerMagazine" .
GuitarPlayerMagazine.com.
Retrieved January 1, 2019.
5. "Guitar Player Magazine article"
(PDF). Guitar Player Magazine.
Archived from the original (PDF) on
November 2, 2013. Retrieved
June 27, 2012.
6. "Infinita" . Jazz Review. Retrieved
November 12, 2010.
7. "Lawson Rollins" (PDF). All About
Jazz. Retrieved November 12, 2010.
8. "Review of Espirito" (PDF). All About
Jazz. Archived from the original
(PDF) on March 14, 2012. Retrieved
May 31, 2011.
9. "YouTube" . YouTube. Retrieved
May 31, 2011.
10. "Jazz Radio Chart Songs" . Nielsen
Company. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
11. "Moonlight Samba" . Nielsen
Company. Archived from the original
on July 13, 2011. Retrieved May 31,
2011.
12. "Infinita" (PDF). Nielsen Company.
Retrieved May 31, 2011.
13. "Flight" . Nielsen Company. Retrieved
March 5, 2014.
14. "BillboardChart" (PDF). Nielsen
Company. Retrieved August 24,
2013.
15. "RadioWaveChart" (PDF).
RadioWave. Retrieved January 10,
2014.
16. "Jazz times, Volume 36, Issues 6-10".
I. Sabin. 2006. p. 48. Missing or
empty |url= (help)
17. "Biography" . Lawson Rollins.
Retrieved May 31, 2011.
18. "Biography" . Lawson Rollins.
Retrieved November 12, 2010.
19. "AMG review" . All Music Guide.
Retrieved May 31, 2011.
20. "Biography" . Lawson Rollins.
Retrieved Aug 4, 2011.
21. "NARAS member" . Lawson Rollins.
Retrieved November 14, 2012.
22. "Infinita Records" . Infinita Records.
Retrieved November 14, 2012.
External links
Lawson Rollins | Official Website
Lawson's guitar duo: Young & Rollins
Official Website
Lawson Rollins at AllMusic

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