Billy’s Solo Demo

Jam Session No. 1: Blues and Ballads — Recorded in Washington D.C.  on 11/9/25. Jon Kurtz (drums), Simon Wojcik @simonwojcik (Upright Bass), Billy Shelton @baddmonk (guitar). 

This was an unrehearsed and impromptu rehearsal/jam. All live tracks. One take. No overdubs, etc. As a group we’ve not these tunes together before, and some were totally new.

Recorded using a new Tascam X8, Shure 58 and 57, and a condenser mic on the upright bass. Mixed in LogicPro on iPad.

The Varnum Street Sessions

Recorded in Washington D.C. on 11/9/25. Jon Kurtz (drums), Simon Wojcik @simonwojcik (Upright Bass), Billy Shelton @baddmonk (guitar).

This was an unrehearsed and impromptu rehearsal/jam. All live tracks. One take. No overdubs, etc.

Tracking, Mixing, and Mastering done by Billy Shelton.

DC Jazz Jam.

Stella By Starlight

Experimenting with some conversational ideas for Solar  (by Miles Davis).

Solar Maybe (Take 4)

Straight No Chaser

Cover of the Kenny Burrell classic — 1963

Chitlins Con Carne

Recorded live with [instrumentation — guitar, bass, and drums. 1st time this group has played this piece.

The original tune appears on the 1962 album Interplay featuring Bill Evans, Freddie Hubbard, Jim Hall, Percy Heath, and Philly Joe Jones.

Tags: jazz, jazz guitar, guitar trio, post-bop, Bill Evans.

Interplay – live jazz guitar trio (Bill Evans)

By Harry Warren and lyrics by Mack Gordon — 1942

There Will Never Be Another You

By Marvin Fisher and lyrics by Jack Segal — 1956

When Sunny Gets Blue

Blues In The Closet

Murmurations No.2 is built from 13 improvised tracks, each recorded in sequence and each responding only to the track that came immediately before it. In practice, that means the ear never listens to the full structure — only to a single sound in the moment, and then reacts.

The mix follows the same rule: volume and panning respond solely to the previous layer, creating depth and dimension from a chain of one-to-one interactions rather than a top-down design.

What results is a kind of emergent form.
What’s the shape — the motion — of the piece when each gesture only knows the one that came before it?

Murmuration No. 2 (For 13 guitars — ambient, spatial 🎧)

These are my explorations in sound painting… plus a song or two that accidentally resemble actual music. This is less like a record store and more like stumbling into an artist’s studio: things in progress, things half-finished, things I’m still trying to understand myself.

I’m a guitarist, improviser, and composer based in the Washington, DC area — a Berklee grad from way back when I still thought knowing modes and chord scales would fix everything. I now split my time between two worlds: textural, experimental solo work and the more traditional jazz language I explore with my trios.

In the solo pieces, I chase self-organizing sound — music that tries to form itself without asking my permission: fluid, dynamic, occasionally confused, but alive. With the trio, the focus shifts toward groove, swing, and melody, though improvisation remains the one thing I haven’t managed to ruin.

Both sides come from the same place: curiosity, listening, and trusting the music more than I trust my own plans.

If any of this resonates — or if you just want to talk shop, collaborate, or say hi — feel free to reach out. 🙏