Joan Griffith never met a string instrument she didn’t like. Growing up in Bellevue, Nebraska, she fell in love with the guitar while listening to Stan Getz and João Gilberto on their breakout Brazilian album. She immediately got her mother to purchase the record and, at age 14, proceeded to figure out how to play all the songs! “This is what I thought the guitar should sound like” she remembers. Joan went to the Conservatory at the University of Kansas City because it was one of the few schools that offered a guitar major. While she was there, she met another string instrument, the acoustic bass, and a whole new world of music opened to her. From there, the electric bass was soon introduced and she and friends from the Conservatory formed a disco/rock cover band called Airhart. Also in Kansas City, she was a part of the influential Women’s Jazz Festival. Her love of jazz was a constant, and became an integral part of her early professional working years. After a musical stint in Arkansas, touring the state with a flute player, she moved to the Twin Cities in 1987, becoming an active player in the jazz/jobbing scene. As one of the all-woman trio, Naima, Joan and her band mates made their mark in the mostly male jazz scene, garnering honors and rave reviews. Joan also became a part of the musical theater world where her ability to play both bass and guitar fit in nicely. The Children’s Theater, the Guthrie, Theater Mu, Park Square and Bloomington Civic Theater (now known as Artistry) all were glad to have her in the pit. She has also played frequently with the Minnesota Orchestra. It was at the Children’s Theater that a mandolin part was included as a double with the guitar book. Never having played one before, she looked it over for a minute or two and promptly ripped off a few scales. The mandolin surrendered. She has since added the violin to her string resume. Joan has also followed her composer voice’s calling. This is where her first love, the music of Brazil, is her biggest influence. As one can hear on her recordings, the choros, the bossas, the baiãos and the sambas live deeply in her soul. A visiting friend, a Brazilian guitarist, said “Joan plays Brazilian music without an accent.” Passing on her love of music, Joan has taught at the University of St. Thomas and St. Catherine’s University among other schools. She is currently ensconsed at Macalester College. She is a roster artist with COMPAS and the Minnesota State Arts Board.