Tim Fitzgerald

Tim Fitzgerald is a Chicago based jazz guitarist, bandleader, educator and author. Named “Wes Montgomery scholar and visionary” by DownBeat Magazine, he is also the recipient of Chicago's 2021 Individual Artist Program Grant, a grant provided by the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the National Endowment for the Arts.

As a performer, Tim has played the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Woodstock Jazz Festival, the Gene Harris Jazz Festival, and the Chi-Town Jazz Festival, among others. Tim has played clubs across the country from New York City's Mezzrow to Memphis' Crosstown Arts to Chicago's Green Mill to Seattle's Tula's to Alice's in Homer, Alaska.

Tim's record "Tim Fitzgerald's Full House" received Editor's Pick and 4.5 stars from DownBeat and is continuing to rise within the top 25 of the national jazz charts (JazzWeek). The record is a love letter to his hero, Wes Montgomery.

Tim is also the author of 625 Alive: the Wes Montgomery BBC Performance Transcribed, which has been named "One of the 50 greatest guitar books of all time" (The 50 Greatest Guitar Books) and "The Ultimate Study of Wes Montgomery's Music" (Just Jazz Guitar magazine).

Tim leads two bands in Chicago, Tim Fitzgerald's Full House and the Tim Fitzgerald Quartet, and is a sideman in a multitude of other projects, including Guru Tonic and the Abigail Riccards Quintet.

Tim's larger group, Full House, is a seven piece, three horn ensemble inspired by the music of jazz great Wes Montgomery. The band features new original arrangements of Wes' music, not just Wes Montgomery songs, but Wes' famous chord solos and octaves solos as well.

The Tim Fitzgerald Quartet features a mix of straight ahead jazz and soul music, including Tim's original compositions, the music of Wes Montgomery, and the music of soul jazz greats such as Dr. Lonnie Smith.

Tim has also written for DownBeat magazine, Just Jazz Guitar magazine, and Chicago Jazz magazine. TV and film musical appearances include PBS's Art Beat, the Sony film "The Myth of Fingerprints'' and the animated film "Hoodwinked, Too." The many luminaries he has performed with include Von Freeman, Wycliffe Gordon, Ron Perrillo, Makaya McCraven, Marquis Hill, and Denis Charles.

Tim, well versed in the Jazz idiom, performance and scholarly work, also enjoys teaching enthusiastic students who share his love for music and the creation of it.