Jeffrey Briggs

Jeffrey Briggs is a classical and flamenco guitarist, and also plays Latin America music on the guitar, the Venezuelan cuatro, and the Andean charango. He has studied with Spanish flamenco guitarist Juan Serrano, Nubian oud player Hamza el Din, and Argentinian charango virtuoso Jaime Torres.

He has performed on radio and televison, including appearances on the Spanish-language television network Univision, international broadcasts from Argentina (Radio Belgrano, Radio Mendoza), and KPFK-FM Los Angeles (Enfoque Latino), as well as composing and recording film and TV soundtracks for NBC’s Starting Over, the Independent Film Channel’s Film School, VH1, Oxygen, the Sí channel of Mexico, and Siempre Pobre, a documentary about street children in Latin America.

He played guitar in the critically acclaimed musical Twist of Fate at the Tiffany Theatrer, winner of 5 awards from the LA Drama Critics Circle and the LA Weekly, including Best Musical of 1995, and composed and performed music for The Bullfight, a play by Venezuelan writer Rodolfo Santana at the Stages Theatre Center in Hollywood in 2000.

He has recorded with the Twist of Fate band, Josh Cruze (Banditos de Amor), John Avila (Oingo Boingo), and other artists; and played at the Hollywood and Highland Center, Cinegrill, Viva Madrid, Holly Street Bar & Grill, Angelique Cafe, Olé LA, John O’Groats, Cafe Boriquén, Lerma 76, Twin Palms, and Luna Negra in the Los Angeles area, as well as Lahoz Restaurant in Old World Village in Huntington Beach.He has has performed at Cornell, Ohio State, Denison, and Capital universities, as well as UCLA, Cal State LA, Cal State Irvine, Occidental College, the Claremont Colleges, and Cypress College, the Mulholland and Beverly Hills Tennis Clubs, and the Miramonte Winery in Temecula.

Briggs has recorded with Iranian tar player Kamil Alipour, Persian pop singer Shayyad, and Israeli musician/composer Smadar Galor.

Briggs is also an independent video producer, writer, photographer, and graphic artist. Born in Ithaca, N.Y., he has a BA in anthropology from Cornell University,
an MA in anthropology from the University of Michigan, and an MFA in film from Ohio University; and has taught photography at Cornell University, film production at Denison University, and television production at Capital University. He was photography critic for the Columbus Dispatch for 7 years.

El Charanguero, his video documentary about Argentinian musician Jaime Torres,has aired on PBS stations throughout the United States, and is being distributed internationally. Before coming to Los Angeles in 1995 Briggs was leader of the Latin American band Sangría, which performed throughout the Midwest. He has also accompanied a number of flamenco dancers and dance classes.