Steve Vai

Early life[edit source]

After listening to Jimmy Page's solo on Led Zeppelin's Heartbreaker, Vai began playing guitar in 1973, at the age of 13.[2] In 1974, he took guitar lessons from guitarist Joe Satriani and played in local bands, one of which was called "The Steve Vais". He was influenced by guitarists including Jimmy Page, Brian May, Ritchie Blackmore,[3] Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Glen Buxton,[4] and jazz fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Vai attended Berklee College of Music, afterwards recording a promotional piece for them in which he spoke about auditioning for Frank Zappa at age 20.

Steve Vai (on guitar in between the drums and keyboard), Frank Zappa and band during a concert at the Memorial Auditorium, Oct 25, 1980 Buffalo, New York

Early music career (1979-1982)[edit source]

Vai mailed Frank Zappa a transcription of Zappa's "The Black Page", an instrumental for drums, along with a tape of Vai's guitar playing. Zappa was so impressed that in 1979, he hired him to transcribe a number of his guitar solos, including some on the Joe's Garage album and the Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar series. These transcriptions were published in 1982 in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book. After being hired as a transcriber, Vai did overdubs on many of the guitar parts for Zappa's album You Are What You Is. He became a full-fledged band member, going on his first tour with Zappa in the autumn of 1980.

One of those early shows with Vai on guitar, was released as Buffalo in 2007. While touring with Zappa's band, Vai sometimes asked audience members to bring musical scores and see if he could sight-read them on the spot. Zappa referred to Vai as his "little Italian virtuoso" and listed him in the liner notes as performing "stunt guitar" or "impossible guitar parts". Vai was a featured artist on the 1993 recording Zappa's Universe. In 2006 he appeared as a special guest on Dweezil Zappa's 'Zappa Plays Zappa' tour, alongside friends from his early years with Zappa.

After leaving Zappa in 1982 he moved to California, where he recorded his first album Flex-Able, in 1983 (released January 1984) and performed in a couple of bands. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz, with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace. In 1985, Vai played with John Lydon's Publi

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