Dr. Joseph Jewell is a celebrated Southern California guitarist and educator. Equally adept on classical and electric guitar, Joe can be found performing as a featured jazz soloist at the State University of New York Jazz Guitar Festival the week after performing the avante garde concert music of eminent Chinese Composer Tan Dun at the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival. In 2003, Joe completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Guitar Performance at the University of Southern California.

Recognized as an accomplished orchestral guitarist, Joe has performed with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, Pasadena Symphony and the Orchestra of the Music Academy of the West. Joe is also an active chamber musician. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Ensemble he has performed on mandolin, banjo, and guitar on the American premieres of new compositions by John Adams and Unsuk Chin. He has made appearances at the 1996 and 1998 San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, 1997 Ojai Festival, and the 2003 La Jolla Summerfest.

Joe's studio credits include performances on soundtracks for television shows on CBS, SHOWTIME and the ODESSY CHANNEL. He has played guitar on the feature films TORTILLA HEAVEN, FOUR DOGS PLAYING POKER, LURED INNOCENCE and UNDERCURRENT. He just played on his tenth album for Varese/Sarabande Records, a compilation of music from the SUPERMAN films and has also recorded for the New Mix, Pen Dinas and many other record labels.

As an accompanist, Joe has performed with vocalists Andrea Marcovicci (including a recent sold-out concert at San Francisco's Symphony Hall) and Christine Ebersole and has recorded on their most recent albums. He has also performed in concert with well-known folksinger, Glen Yarbrough and has played behind Bob Hope, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé, and many other celebrities. He has performed in the orchestras for over a hundred musical productions including West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Chorus Line, Evita, Chicago, and Little Shop of Horrors.

 Joe taught at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY for nine years and was Head of Guitar Studies at State University of New York at Oswego before moving to Southern California in 1988. He is currently tenured Associate Professor of Guitar and Commercial Music Studies at Fullerton College. Among his current interests is the music of the legendary Belgian gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt and he performs regularly with Club Django, Southern California's leading proponent of Reinhardt's music. Dr. Jewell has just released his first jazz recording, Every Note Counts, featuring some of the finest musicians in Southern California.