John Shannon | "A Day In Tarifa"

On A Day in Tarifa, Pittsburgh Guitarist John Shannon Follows in the Lineage of George Benson, Jimmy Ponder,

Joe Pass, and Joe Negri

Available on CD on October 3, 2025, on Digital Platforms on November 28, 2025 and on Vinyl on December 5, 2025

Via Jazzbook Records

The Title Track is Streaming Now

When it comes to bluesy, soulful, straight-ahead jazz, few American cities swing like Pittsburgh. Guitarist John Shannon, a Pittsburgh native, follows in the lineage of George Benson, Jimmy Ponder, Joe Pass, and Joe Negri — masters, each rooted in Pittsburgh, who carried the City of Bridges’ singular dialect onto the world stage.

Shannon carries that legacy forward on his debut full-length jazz album, A Day in Tarifa, due on CD on October 3, digital platforms on November 28 on vinyl on December 5 on Jazzbook Records. The organ-trio set features Cliff Barnes on Hammond organ and James Johnson III on drums, and its originals range from hometown landmarks like “Four One Two” and “Liberty Bridge” to the windswept Spanish coast that inspired its title track.

“This is actually my debut jazz record,” Shannon explains. “I’ve put out other records, but this is the first one where the writing is jazz centric and for a classic organ trio.” The music ties his Pittsburgh roots to southern Spain and his search for sound in nature. It’s both a return home and a new beginning — shaped on the road, tested onstage, and distilled into his own voice.

Shannon began shaping that voice early. His debut, American Mystic (2008), was praised for its intimacy, followed by Songs of the Desert River (2011) and Time Was a Lie (2012). In 2021 he produced State of Mind for Con Alma Records, capturing Pittsburgh’s scene during Covid.

He started guitar at six. By high school he was performing around Pittsburgh, studying with bassist Dwayne Dolphin, saxophonist Eric Kloss, and organist Mike Ross. At Berklee he trained with Mick Goodrick and Wayne Krantz, alongside classmates Hiromi Uehara, Bob Reynolds, Walter Smith III, and Kendrick Scott. In 1999 he formed Waking Vision with drummer Martin Valihora and bassist Mitch Cohn, touring Europe before he turned twenty. Soon after, he stepped in on guitar with Hiromi’s Sonicbloom, subbing for David Fiuczynski on live dates around the world.

Through the 2010s he expanded into new territory: the rock trio theSHIFT’s 7th Direction (2015); SweetPro, the Reggie Watts-created ensemble behind Louie; Louis C.K.’s film Fourth of July (2022); and his own albums Guitar Improvisations (2018) and Waking Vision’s The Breathing Earth (2023). In 2022 he signed with Jazzbook Records, making A Day in Tarifa his first statement for the label.

Though his work spans jazz, rock, and film, Shannon has remained rooted in Pittsburgh. “They call it the Pittsburgh quarter note,” he explains. “If you don’t swing, you’re not really accepted as part of the scene.” He points to Roger Humphries — drummer on Horace Silver’s Song for My Father and a longtime mentor in Pittsburgh — and bassist Dwayne Dolphin, whose credits include Wynton Marsalis and Fred Wesley. For Shannon, they embody the same working-class, soulful feel carried forward by Benson, Ponder, Pass, and Negri.

A Day in Tarifa draws from those roots while opening outward. Tracks like “Four One Two,” “Liberty Bridge,” and “Allegheny Current” are grounded in Pittsburgh’s landscape. The spacious, hypnotic “Marseille” nods to the late pianist and fellow Pittsburgh native Ahmad Jamal. The title track evokes Tarifa, Spain’s southern tip: “There is an inspiring mystique in Tarifa, you can see across the water to North Africa ands it’s also the windsurfing capitol of the world,” Shannon says. Other pieces — “Golden Wave,” “Sunrise,” “Star Travel,” and “Slipstream” — draw inspiration from the sounds of wind, trees, and rivers.

Choosing the organ trio format is itself a statement. Guitar, Hammond organ, and drums — rooted in the soul-jazz tradition of Jimmy Smith’s trios and the guitar lineage of Grant Green — remain one of jazz’s most recognizable settings. Shannon leans into that heritage with Barnes’s organ voice and Johnson’s deep-pocket time. “I love the sound of the organ trio,” he says. “It has such a trance nature to it.” Their interplay gives A Day in Tarifa its identity: straight-ahead and hard-bop in feel, with the soulful drive that defines Pittsburgh jazz.

For Shannon, the album also reaffirms the importance of songwriting. “All the greats in jazz were also great songwriters,” he says. “That’s where players develop their sound — on their own music. It’s about the communication of a song.”

A spiritual strand runs through his work — meditation, vision-quest, and engagement with devotional traditions. Ravi Shankar’s Chants of India (1997), produced by George Harrison, remains a touchstone, echoing his own practice of finding the mystical in sound.

Since 2019 he has co-owned and curated Con Alma, one of the only musician-owned jazz clubs in the U.S. He programs local stalwarts alongside touring artists, fosters a listening-first space, and works to reawaken Pittsburgh’s jazz consciousness. “Con Alma is more of a vision than a dream,” he says. In 2021 Esquire named Con Alma one of the “Best Bars in America,” and through OH! Jazz streaming the club carries Pittsburgh’s sound worldwide.

With A Day in Tarifa, Shannon makes his first full jazz statement. Tours are planned in Central Europe, Texas, and India, alongside appearances at home. In his hands, the guitar becomes a bridge — linking Steel City’s swing tradition to his own voice.