John Jorgensen will perform with his quintet at the Fret House....

By Michelle J. Mills, Staff Writer

Posted: 01/09/2010 08:58:10 PM PST
Photo: Lotos Nile
John Jorgensen will perform with his quintet at the Fret House in Covina Wednesday, Jan. 13. (Photo by Lotos Nile)Musician John Jorgenson could play any genre of music he wants just about anywhere in the world, but he's happiest performing gypsy jazz in small, intimate venues. "This style of music is basically acoustic and I feel that usually the smaller the venue, the better the music sounds," Jorgenson said.

On Wednesday, the John Jorgenson Quintet, Jorgenson on guitar, clarinet and bouzouki, along with violinist Jason Anick, bassist Simon Planting, drummer Rick Reed and Doug Martin (substituting for Kevin Nolan) on rhythm guitar, will perform at the Fret House in Covina. The group will play selections from its repertoire, including standards and its latest release, "One Stolen Night" (J2 Records), plus compositions by Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt was the father of gypsy jazz and would have been 100 years old this year. "(Reinhardt) really was the first guy to lead his own group as a featured soloist on the guitar and being a European gypsy playing a style of music that really was American, especially at the time, and to do all of that with only two functional fingers on his left hand, he defied every single odd," Jorgenson said.

Reinhardt inspired and set the bar for generations of guitarists to follow. Like his predecessor, Jorgenson is considered a pioneer in the gypsy jazz movement. He even portrayed Reinhardt in the film, "Head in the Clouds," starring Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz. Nashville resident Jorgenson has played and collaborated with an impressive who's who list of artists, including Bob Dylan, Luciano Pavarotti and Sting. He was a member of Elton John's band for six years and co-founded The Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters. Jorgenson grew up in Redlands and obtained a degree in bassoon, clarinet and saxophone from Redlands University, where his father was the orchestra conductor and a music professor.

"For me, music was all around our house. My mom is a piano teacher, so every day I saw her teaching kids and every kid that came to our house played the piano, so to me it wasn't really unusual, it was like, if everyone else is doing it I can do it too," Jorgenson said. He began playing piano at age 5 and the clarinet at 8. After two years of begging, his parents gave in and bought him a guitar when he was 12 and Jorgenson was on his way to a career. "I started making money as a musician pretty early and I really liked it. At that time, I could make $35 playing at a fraternity party and play rock 'n' roll. As a 13-year-old, that was awesome," Jorgenson said.

He worked as a musician at Disneyland at 16 and through the beginnings of The Desert Rose Band. The group was signed, recording and touring, but Jorgenson didn't leave the "happiest place on earth" until the band had its first single. Jorgenson can sit down and write music as needed, but he also gets inspired to create. Unlike many artists, he usually doesn't put his material to paper right away. "I figure if I can't remember it, then it's not very good, that's my own filtering process. I imagine I might have lost some things along the way like that, but if it's not compelling enough for me to remember it, then how do I expect an audience to remember it?" Jorgenson said.

Jorgenson feels very lucky that he has had such a successful and lengthy career, but he also credits it to his versatility, good attitude and simple thankfulness. "I've seen that if I don't really appreciate something, it gets taken away in some way, be it a friend or a car or an instrument, whatever. I think active appreciation of what you have instead of worrying about what you don't have is beneficial," Jorgenson said.

The John Jorgenson Quintet is performing in both small venues and large festivals across the United States and Canada in support of "One Stolen Night" and will sweep the East Coast again in the spring before heading to Europe and the United Kingdom.

Jorgenson also recently released "Istiqbal Gathering" (J2 Records), an album for guitar and orchestra, with Paul Gambill, conductor of the Orchestra Nashville, and he's hoping to do some orchestral concerts as well. He will be playing a series of reunion shows with The Desert Rose Band too. Jorgenson has several other projects in the works, including designing a new piece of music equipment that he will hopes to release next year.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_14159168