”…high caliber player…”
-Bill Milkowski (Jazz Times)
”You’re kickin’ much ass, my man! I love what you’re doin’!”
-DeWayne “Blackbyrd” McKnight (Parliament / Funkadelic)
".might be best known for his progressive art-rock ensemble (Miscellaneous Flux) but if you look deeper than the dazzle of the group's stream-of-consciousness hip-hop lyrics and angular arrangements, you'll find chops befitting an accomplished jazz guitarist."
-The Washington Post
Guitarist and composer Ben Tyree began his musical journey in Washington, DC’s diverse and eclectic music scenes, playing in jazz, funk and rock bands from a very young age. His vision stems from studies of classical guitar, composition and jazz performance at Washington, D.C.’s prestigious Duke Ellington School of the Arts and later, Howard University. In 1998, Tyree founded the seminal and award-winning hip hop/fusion group Miscellaneous Flux. The group performed regularly at high-profile venues throughout the East Coast. Miscellaneous Flux released one self-produced EP (2000) in addition to the critically acclaimed Dead In Dreams (2002), which received a "Wammie" (Washington Area Music Association award) and 4 other nominations, including Best Urban Contemporary Instrumentalist for Tyree.
After relocating to New York City in 2002, Tyree established himself as one of the most versatile and creative musicians of his generation. Incorporating Coltrane-esque melodic sheets of sound, funk-derived and classical finger-style rhythm playing as well as chord voicings not typical to guitar arrangements, he has crafted an original, yet easily recognizable style of guitar playing and composing. Tyree further expanded his musical vision in collaboration with artists such as MuthaWit , Vernon Reid, Kyp Malone (TV On The Radio), Res, Nomi, The Family Stand, Clark Terry, John Medeski,
and Elliot Sharp’s SyndaKit, among others. An in-demand performer, Tyree has been featured at such high-profile venues as the Apollo, New York City’s Blue Note, Lincoln Center, Tonic, D.C.’s Blues Alley and the Kennedy Center.
Tyree’s music and guitar playing has been commissioned by companies including Green Team USA and ESPN. In February 2008, Ben Tyree joined the Solar Guitars roster, accompanying guitar legends Blackbyrd McKnight and Dean Brown. Also a freelance music journalist, Tyree has been published in Ugly Planet Media and Modern Guitars Magazine, interviewing such musicians as Glenn Tipton (Judas Priest), Mike Stern and Genesis P-Orridge.
Tyree is currently working on a solo acoustic guitar repertoire of explorations in standard and alternate tunings as well as his electric sci-fi jazz/funk trio BT3 (often augmented with vocalist Stephanie Rooker, turntablist DJ Logic, and saxophonist V. Jeffrey Smith). He also regularly performs with the Stephanie Rooker & the Search Engine, Jeremy Clemons’ Soul Understated, and Burnt Sugar: The Arkestra Chamber.
