Ron LoCurto began playing guitar at age 11, on a guitar his grandmother borrowed from a friend. He was first drawn to the instrument through the high energy of Rock music, and much of his formative years were spent playing Rock. While a music major at Buffalo State College, his tastes grew to include Jazz, Classical, and World music.
Rick Strauss was Ron's first influential instructor, tutoring Ron in music reading, theory, and improvisation. In college, Ron majored in music performance and studied Classical Guitar with John Sawyers, founding member of the Buffalo Guitar Quartet. He also pursued the study of music from around the world, an interest due in part to the influence of John McLaughlin's Indo-Fusion group Shakti.
Since college, Ron has been an active part of the Buffalo music scene, performing in a variety of bands and styles. His dedication to the study, creation and performance of quality music has allowed him to perform with many of Buffalo's top Jazz, Blues and Rock musicians, including the reggae band Strictly Riddim and John Bacon's Jazz Current, as well as international Jazz drummer/composer Bobby Previte. Jeff Miers, of the Buffalo News, described Ron's performance with Previte, as "liquid grace."
In 1994, Ron released Kaleidoscope, a Jazz-Rock fusion project with Eric and Nelson Starr on drums and Keyboards, and Jack Kulp on bass. In the fall of 1995, he and partner Ravi Padmanabha formed TalaRasa, and in 1998 released their debut CD, West of East. TalaRasa's original music reflects eastern and western traditions, and is constantly evolving. Ron is currently working on a new release for TalaRasa as well as his own solo project. He was also a finalist in the first North American Rock Guitar Competition.
In addition to a full playing schedule, Ron has been teaching at the Lockport Music Center for the last 11 years and has a roster of over 50 students.
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