Aart de Geus
Guitar

Aart was “re-born” to blues in Basel, Switzerland on March 10th, 1972 while attending a T-Bone Walker concert. Things were never the same after that! While school grades “softened” to the benefit of twelve bar progressions, he played in a variety of blues bands culminating in the Black Cat Bone Blues Band winning the Swiss Amateur Jazz, Blues and Rock competition as *best* Swiss Blues Band in 1978. Full disclosure requires to confess that there was at most only one other blues band in the competition. The Black Cat Bone Blues Band played a variety of engagements, most notably one with the great Sunnyland Slim on European tour from Chicago.
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After moving to the United States and starting to “work for a living”, Aart misguidedly gave up band membership due to professional commitments, thus foolishly leaving the guitar dormant. This all changed through a “blind date” with a ‘58 Gibson ES-335, a classic axe beyond anything he ever played as an adolescent: She had tone and sustain! Blues fever was back and in 2010 Legally Blue finally came together.

When asked about his “idols”, the list runs off the page with T-Bone Walker, B.B., Albert, and Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Duane Allman, Anson Funderburgh, Big Joe Williams, Chris Cain, Gatemouth Brown, Earl Hooker, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Hollywood Fats, J.B. Lenoir, Freddie Robinson, Larry Carlton, Lonnie Johnson, Luther Allison, Mike Bloomfield, Pee Wee Crayton, Robben Ford, Robert Johnson, Ronnie Earl, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Floyd, all the way into the Jazz sphere with Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Barney Kessel, George Barnes, George Benson, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Bruno, Kenny Burrell, Mary Osborne, Joe Pass, with special love and gratitude for John Garcia, his amazing teacher who passed away in 2016.

From a gear perspective, his favorite “axes” are a ‘59 335 and a ’54 Strat copy built by his friend Dave Neilson. From an amp point of view, he likes to play a stereo configuration with a 60' Super Reverb and a ’59 Bassman copy also built by Dave. The search for the perfect tone, of course, never ends!