Jon Catler hails from Cohasset, MA, where he grew up playing trumpet and taking guitar lessons at the local music store. When South Shore Conservatory opened up in 1970, Jon started studying classical guitar there with a couple of different teachers. This exposed him to new music and composers, and classical counterpoint and finger style techniques that Catler would later use in his own compositions.
With his band Catler Bros, he performed throughout the east coast, and graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College Of Music in 1979. Upon graduation, he went on the road with The Platters, becoming band leader, and moved to New York City in 1981.
With NYC as his base for 30 years, Catler has appeared as a composer and performer worldwide, including on the Futurismo/Futurimi Festival, Manca Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Quebec Festival d’Ete, the Angelica Festival, the World Out Of Tune Festival, and the American Festival Of Microtonal Music, of which he is a co-founder. Catler performed in the world premier version of Charles Ives’ ‘Universe Symphony’ at Lincoln Center, a climax of AFMM’s 30-year history.
Noted for his work with legendary composer La Monte Young, Catler can be heard as featured soloist on the Gramavision double-CD; La Monte Young and the Forever Bad Blues Band. The CD has been widely reviewed (four stars in Rolling Stone), and the band has toured Europe and played Alice Tully Hall, the Kitchen, and The Knitting Factory.
Catler has continued to work with La Monte for 30 years, playing Fretless Sustainer Guitar in The Theater Of Eternal Music and the Just Alap Raga Ensemble, and recent performances at the Dream House in NYC as well as a residency at The Guggenheim Museum. Other notable performances include Avery Fischer Hall, Lincoln Center, Teatro La Fenice (Venice), and playing the original Harry Partch guitars with Newband at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
Jon has released over a dozen critically acclaimed albums of original music, and recorded with many other artists. Catler is widely regarded as one of the main innovators of music in Harmonic Series tuning. As founder of FreeNote Records, Catler released the first Harmonic Series jazz CD in 1996 with 'Crash Landing' by The Catler Bros.
His pioneering work ‘Evolution For Electric Guitar And Orchestra’ headlined W.O.O.T. Festival at the NYC venue Makor. In 2001, ‘Evolution' was recorded with Grammy award winning conductor Joel Thome. A live recording from a performance at New York Society For Ethical Culture has also been released on the Pitch label.
With the band Willie McBlind, Catler released 3 CD’s of progressive Harmonic blues that received rave reviews in publications such as Downbeat Magazine. His recordings with Fretless Brothers, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, and 13 O’Clock have continued to push the boundaries of Harmonic music. 13 O’Clock ic currently releasing music from the new CD ‘WorldWind’, which features songs derived from the Harmonic translation of the Fibonacci Series.
Catler has been the recipient of numerous commissions and grants, including a composer residency grant from Harvestworks in NYC, and a grant for the MicroTime Tour, which featured an interstate touring ensemble that debuted the concept of Harmonic Rhythm. His music has been featured on radio shows worldwide, including interviews on WNYC’s New Sounds with John Schaefer, and on KPFK in Los Angeles with John Schneider, where he was named ‘Most Innovative Guitarist’.
His first book, ‘The Nature Of Music’, was first published in 2002, and is now in its 5th printing, and his second book, ’The Lost Chord’, is being published in 2023.
Throughout his career, Catler has been teaching guitar and music, and has continued doing so, as a faculty member of MU, which is an online global microtonal university, and giving a master class at Berklee. Catler recently opened WildHouse Studio, a recording studio in Randolph, MA.
In 2000, Catler made his microtonal fretting designs available through an exclusive deal with G&L Guitars, one of America’s top builders. These guitars, along with the above CD’s and others, are available through the FreeNote Music website.