Music Blog Posts
Archipelago for Guitar
CD with original artwork available for streaming and purchase at Bandcamp: Music is everywhere these days, but listening to it is getting harder. Classical music– and all serious “listening” music—-hails from a time before app-driven dopamine hits ruled our...
William Tell Overture for Solo Guitar
This is my arrangement of the full finale (the famous part) of the William Tell Overture for solo classical guitar. Mauro Giuliani, the accomplished 19th century guitarist-composer wrote a number of “Rossinianes,” virtuosic potpourris into which he threw many of the...
Archipelago for Guitar
Not too long ago, I had the idea to weave a storyline into the performance of a series of guitar pieces. Each piece I wrote seemed to have its own musical ecosystem, so I called them "islands." Narrating a tale while tuning the guitar between "islands" would draw the...
Milonga for Solo Guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=5xSV7agKtX4 To purchase the score, click "Add to Cart," and then go to the Shopping Cart page (far right on the page menu). You'll get an instant download of a of 3-page Pdf...
Island Three (Live)
This is the third movement of Archipelago for Guitar., recorded live at the MakeMusic Harlem Festival
Listen to Paganini’s Romanze in A Minor
This has always been one of my favorite classical guitar pieces. It's the middle movement of Paganini's Grand Sonata in A Major, which was originally written for guitar and violin. Most of his works for guitar and violin had virtuosic violin parts, and relatively...
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik for Solo Guitar
All 4 movements of Serenade No. 13 for Strings, K. 525, transcribed for the advanced classical guitar, from G Major into D Major. If you're a bit burned out on Sor and Giuliani and their ilk, it's a lot of fun to play a great composer such as Mozart on the guitar. A...
Five Preludes
Prelude 1: Lullaby from a Paper Boat / Prelude 2: With Variation / Prelude 3: Brookrolick / Prelude 4: Like a Passacaglia / Prelude 5: Moto Perpetuo
Fingerprint: Guitar Solos
CD available for streaming and purchase at Bandcamp: Fingerprint is a musical tour of the world through the strings of Jay Kauffman’s guitar. It is a refreshingly original collection of music inspired by folk and popular idioms from around the globe. It features some...
Valentine Sunday Concert at Bartow-Pell Mansion
I will be playing some romances, romanzas, capriccios, valses, zambas, chacareras, carnavalitos, and a Beatles set. Plus a dramatic & romantic story-set-vignette from my own piece, Archipelago for Guitar!* Please note: Valentine's day is a Wednesday,...