Described as “playing a mean guitar” (Wichita Eagle), William Flynn is a Kansas-based guitarist and composer emerging onto the contemporary jazz community with an increasingly original musical voice. William’s recent professional engagements include sharing the stage with saxophonist Bob Reynolds (John Mayer, Snarky Puppy), as well as performances at The Blue Room (Kansas City), the Charlie Parker Celebration Festival (Kansas City) and the Wichita Jazz Festival. William’s playing and composing can be heard on the Artists Recording Collective label (Traveler, 2017), and Armored Records (The Songbook Project, 2016). As a graduate student at the University of North Texas, William held the guitar chair with the world-renowned and Grammy-nominated One O’Clock Lab Band. As a member of the One O’ Clock, William performed alongside such jazz luminaries as John Clayton, Wayne Bergeron, and Terell Stafford, and he can be heard featured on the band’s 2012 release Lab 2012. As an educator, William has taught, presented, and adjudicated at conferences and universities across the country, including the Seattle Jazz Guitar Society, the South Carolina Music Educators Association, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Missouri, Capital University (Columbus, OH), and South Dakota State University. Additionally, William is the co-author of Mel Bay’s 2016 publication Jazz Guitar Duets. William holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Capital University (Columbus, Ohio), and a Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas, where he held a position as a Graduate Teaching Fellow. William currently serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Guitar at Wichita State University, where he teaches applied jazz guitar, jazz improvisation, and directs the Guitar Ensemble.
