Born
6 June 1960, Long Island, New York, USA. Vai began his musical career
at the age of 13, forming his first rock band, Rayge, while still
at school. At this time he was tutored by Joe Satriani, who was to
have a profound effect on his style for years to come. He studied
jazz and classical music at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston,
Massachusetts, before relocating to Los Angeles, California, in 1979.
He was recruited by Frank Zappa as the lead guitarist in his backing
band, while he was still only 18 years old. By 1984 he had built his
own recording studio and had begun experimenting with the fusion of
jazz, rock and classical music. These pieces were eventually released
as Flex-able, and were heavily influenced by Zappa's offbeat and unpredictable
style. In 1985 Vai replaced Yngwie Malmsteen in Alcatrazz, then moved
on to even greater success with Dave Lee Roth and later Whitesnake.
Passion And Warfare, released in 1990, was the album that brought
Vai international recognition as a solo performer. It welded together
jazz, rock, funk, classical and metal nuances within a melodic instrumental
framework. It climbed to number 18 on the Billboard album chart, earning
a gold disc in the process. Alien Love Secrets further highlighted
his extraordinary style with guitars sounding like horses on 'Bad
Horsie' and a Venusian vocal on 'Kill The Guy With The Ball' created
by utilizing massive EQ, his left foot and a digital whammy bar. Vai
takes the instrument into new realms but still makes it sound like
a guitar, most of the time. Fire Garden was half-instrumental/half-vocal,
and contained a bizarre mix of stunning guitar pyrotechnics, together
with one of his most evocative compositions, 'Hand On Heart'.
