The String Figures are a new acoustic hot-pickin' trio, comprised of Greg Morton (guitar), Mark Robertson-Tessi (mandolin, guitar and bouzouki) and James Stanley (upright bass and vocals). The String Figures' performances feature some of the best acoustic music to be heard in the Southwest. You'll hear progressive bluegrass, hot swing, and "New Acoustic" music with a Southwestern flair. The trio performs in an open, improvisational style. Every String Figures show is different and memorable, providing an excellent musical experience for the listeners.

Award winning master guitarist Greg Morton is a featured soloist with the group. Greg plays steaming hot guitar solos with a very distinctive cross-picking style. Multi-instrumentalist Mark Robertson-Tessi plays mandolin, bouzouki, and guitar with clear, high-energy tone and rhythm, and he is a featured soloist on many of the ensemble's sophisticated Gypsy Jazz numbers. James Stanley plays upright bass in a sensitive and driving style and is lead singer for the group.

The group has a loyal fan base and can be heard at music festivals and venues statewide, clubs and restaurants in and around Tucson, and on KXCI Radio. The String Figures host a popular Acoustic Jam Session at the French Quarter Restaurant every Tuesday night, where people pack the house to see and hear the group play with a variety of local professional musicians.

Mark Robertson-Tessi

Mark began playing piano at the age of seven, and also studied violin and french horn as a youngster. In high school, he was a member of a Jazz ensemble, and his love of Jazz continued as he played for many groups during his college years while he earned his degree in recording sciences. His formal training in music theory helped him master many musical styles, and many musical instruments, including mandolin, guitar, banjo, bouzouki, violin, bass and piano.

He is a very in-demand player locally, and has many music projects in progress, including recording and performances with Round the House, The Determined Luddites, The Wayback Machine, The Street Minstrels, and the BarnJazz Quartet, to name a few.

Mark has won the Four Corner States Mandolin Championship in Wickenburg, AZ, and the Tucson Irish Music Competition on mandolin and tenor banjo. He has twice received a TAMMIE award for Best Multi-Instrumentalist in Tucson from the Tucson Weekly, and most recently for Best String Player in Tucson in 2005 and 2006. In 2004, he placed top 5 in the National Mandolin Championships in Winfield, Kansas.

Mark continues to compose progressive acoustic music, drawing on many different influences. His writing is somewhat influenced by baroque and Spanish harmony, modal melody, and energetic rhythmic elements.

You can visit Mark's homepage at http://www.pickpluckmusic.com

Greg Morton

Greg was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He began to play the guitar when he was 12. His twin brother, Randal Morton, began to play the banjo at about the same time, and the two were often headliners at various bluegrass festivals around the country.

Greg's natural musical ability allowed him to quickly develop a mastery of the guitar, and helped him win several guitar and mandolin championships. As he sharpened his skills playing traditional bluegrass music, he began to apply his talents to other musical styles, including country and Jazz. He caught the attention of Nashville-based musicians and began touring with Mark O'Connor, the White family, and also toured around the world as a featured member of the USO, and lead guitarist for Don Ho's band in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Eventually, his travels brought him to Tucson, Arizona. Far from the hills of Tennessee, Greg found that the "high lonesome" sounds of bluegrass music were already reverberating through the canyons of the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona.

In 1995, Greg Morton won the Arizona State Guitar Championship, and in 2001, 2002, and 2004, he was the recipient of the prestigious TAMMIES Award (Tucson Area Music Awards) for Best Acoustic Guitarist. Greg's band, the Greg Morton Trio, won the TAMMIES Award for Best Country & Western Band in 2003, and Best Bluegrass Band in 2004.

Today, Greg plays in various venues throughout southern Arizona, and has recently released his Solo Guitar CD.

You can visit Greg's homepage at www.gregmorton.net

James Stanley

James is a Tucson native and started his musical training at age nine as a touring member of the Tucson Boys Choir. As a teenager, he learned to play drums and guitar, and was a founding member and lead vocalist of The Committee, a popular, Tucson-based rock 'n roll band signed to Epic Records in 1968.

In 1973 he moved west to California where he worked in Los Angeles and San Francisco as a radio jingle writer and producer. He later played for several television production ensembles, including bands for the Barbara Mandrell Show and Debbie Reynolds Christmas Specials.

In 1978, he began playing and recording country music with singer-songwriter Greg Lupton, and in 1983 formed Mephisto, a popular jazz ensemble based in Santa Barbara. He moved to New York City in 1996 and to London in 1999 to further his Jazz studies, and has since played and toured with many Jazz ensembles, and continues to arrange and compose his original material. Recently, James returned home to Tucson, where he is recording and performing with Greg Morton and Mark Robertson-Tessi.