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JAKE
HERTZOG |
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Barely
out of his teens, NYC guitarist Jake Hertzog spans generations of
guitar sounds and styles on his 2009 CD Chromatosphere. A Berklee
grad and winner of the 2006 Montreux Jazz grand prize in the jazz
guitar competition, Hertzog comes up with ten solid reasons why guitar
lovers should give him a listen with Chromatosphere. The ten
cut CD features modern digi-pak design with in depth liner notes that
detail Hertzogs guitar progressions. Modern jazz guitar influences
from Metheny to Stern abound, yet Hertzog also delineates a rock fusion
edge here that will appeal to fans of Hendrix and Beck as well. Chromatosphere
features Hertzog in the company of esteemed virtuoso players such
as Harvie S (bass), Victor Jones (drums) and Michael
Wolff (piano). The rhythm section speaks jazz, but Hertzog speaks
the language of guitarsuccessfully merging just about every
instrumental jazz-related style and sound from Django to Jimi. www.JakeHertzog.com I've
wanted to play guitar as long as I can remember! When I was four years
old I would carry around random objects and insist they were guitars.
Finally by the time I was nine years old I was big enough to hold
one and my parents found a great teacher. So I've been playing for
12 years or so, graduated from Berklee and now live in NYC. I started
out really a rock and blues player and then got into jazz when I was
around 15 or so I had rock bands in high school and we did tons of
original material. Then I met some guys that were in the high school
jazz band across town and they really got me into it. I really fell
in love with jazz and when it came time to pick a college I was easily
seduced by the Berklee College of Music in Boston. I studied jazz
guitar pretty hard there, from straight-ahead to really out there
with some amazing teachers. I was definitely lucky to work with some
of the best musicians in the world at Berklee. Since then I've been
back playing in pop groups whist I play jazz on the side. I love it
cause my heart is in many kinds of music. Now I feel like Im striking
an honest balance of jazz and other styles. I definitely feel that
comes out on this record. It's
called Chromatosphere and it's my take on a modern, but not
avant-garde, jazz guitar record. There's hints of different kinds
of jazz on there, from fusion to R&B to straight ahead and world.
I feel like each tune is a different aspect of what makes up modern
jazz, like different points on the same sphere. It's my first record,
so Im really excited about all the places I can go from here.
I think my guitar style is to blend all the things I like and particularly
with jazz to play as differently as I can. Another concept of the
record was that each tune should be something the average person could
enjoy, without needing a music degree. So much of jazz is musically
so complex and though I love it, my rule is, if my mom wouldn't like
it, most people would turn it off. So I tried to make a record that
had some musical slickness but that wouldn't intimidate people with
its complexity or sonic chaos.
My favorite
is my Artinger Custom, which I used on the entire record and most
of my gigs. It is semi hollow but extra small, with coil tap pickups
for huge sonic range. I also use lots of effects, primarily delay,
chorus, pitch shifting and distortion on this record. I like to use
harmonizers and anything that simulates more than one guitar. I love
the way U2 uses delays and I hope to do something like that on my
next record. I also have a beautiful custom Les Paul and Fender Strat
that I use on my pop gigs. Same batch of effects really, just much
more traditional ways of using them. The Fulltone distortion pedals
sound amazing!
Good
question! Im a diehard Pat Metheny fan. I love everything from Bright
Size Life to The Way Up. I just think he's so musical and
his artistry is so poetic. I like musicians that are so far beyond
just playing the guitar in a cool way. John Scofield as well. And
then all the other jazz dudes, Wes, Joe Pass, etc.. I really like
Ben Monder's music too, it's so creative. Flux is an incredible
guitar album. But Im influenced by pop artists too, since I'm also
a singer songwriter. U2 and Jimi Hendrix, 90's alternative and anyone
who writes a great song. I want to make that kind of jazz that's new
but also listenable. I think all guitarists are influenced by Electric
Ladyland and Layla and all those great classic rock records.
And some of the jazz records like Smoking At The Half Note by
Wes and Virtuoso by Joe Pass. Those are timeless. The Joshua
Tree is one of the coolest guitar records ever, I think, so original.
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