Profile: Jake Hertzog, Jazz Guitarist & Educator

				(Photo: Deneka Peniston) While the term, “Jazz Guy,” may conjure up images of Will Ferrell performing an extended free-form jazz-flute odyssey, it’s a banner guitar virtuoso Jake Hertzog wears proudly. He’s even adopted it as his Guitar Player Magazine column byline and popular music tutorial YouTube series, Hey Jazz Guy. The Illinois native and New York City transplant has never been one to take the obvious path. At 20, he was the youngest ever winner of the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition’s Grand Prize in 2006, and was invited back the following year to open for jazz greats John Scofield and Medeski Martin & Wood. He went on to serve as musical director, lead guitarist, and mentor for Nickelodeon’s The Naked Brothers Band stars Nat and Alex Wolff for two national tours and countless national TV appearances. Along with frequent gigs with his jazz trio (soon to release its third album featuring Harvie S on bass and Victor Jones on drums), he also co-leads rock band The Young Presidents with bassist Mitch Kaneff. Their newest project boasts a varied lineup of respected musicians including Corey Glover, Blondie Chaplin, Ivan Neville, and Anton Fig. I serendipitously stumbled across Hertzog and his trio playing at Upper West Side jazz spot 78 Below, and was immediately intrigued by his uncommon combination of athleticism and nuanced musicality. Check his website for appearance dates, including a March 5th gig at famed NYC jazz spot, Iridium. - Ryan Swearingen, Co-Founder / Editor
	BEING AN ARTIST IS…?			Always being open to creativity in all its forms. Always trying to stay open to new ideas and sources of inspiration. Pushing yourself mentally and physically on the instrument and striving to create and perform at the highest level you can.
				(Photo: Eddie Malluk)
	WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON TODAY?			I’m always working on new music for my trio and new songs for my rock band, The Young Presidents. Also working on a chamber music trio project with classical guitar and new material for my educational project “Hey Jazz Guy”. I’m always trying to practice the guitar and look for new sounds and gear that can create new and interesting sounds. Music is just sound painting after all, so the more colors you have, the more things you can come up with. So I guess I’m just searching for colors.
				(“McJazz” live at Iridium, NYC.)
	WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR WORK?			A little bit of everything. But I believe your art is a reflection of your life and your everyday emotions. That’s why I think it is so important to try new experiences, meet people, travel, and try to live a rich and emotionally deep life. From that will (hopefully) come emotionally deep art.
				(Photo: Deneka Peniston)
	OF WHAT PROJECT ARE YOU MOST PROUD?			Right now, I’m very proud of my newest jazz record; it’s not out yet but we just finished recording it and it features my usual trio and Randy Brecker on trumpet. It’s the first time I’ve recorded quartet music so I’m very excited about it. I’m also thrilled about the record The Young Presidents just finished. We’ve been working on it since April of 2012 and it is our guest artist super band. We had talented singers like Corey Glover, Ivan Neville, Blondie Chaplin, and Adam Ezra sing songs we wrote, produced by the great Rob Fraboni. We also had Anton Fig on drums and Steven Barber write all these beautiful orchestral arrangements. It was very cool and a long time in the making so I’m extremely excited that we can release it to the world this year.
				(Photo: Deneka Peniston)
	WHAT IS YOUR DREAM PROJECT?			I would love to do something large scale with my jazz group, with lots of horns, some eclectic instruments like hammer dulcimer, and lots of crazy guitars. It would be great to make a record like that! The new The Young Presidents record is also a dream project in a way—from the beginning we just slaved away at the songs and the recording, and it was a real dream to work with so many talented guests…even players from the New York Philharmonic were involved with the record. I was in musical heaven!
				(“Gloria,” Live at Miles, NYC.)
	TO WHOM DO YOU LOOK FOR INSPIRATION?			I have to say, guitarist Pat Metheny is at the top of that list for me. He is constantly creating, touring, recording, [and] innovating, and always plays so amazing and so unique. And other similar artists, like Wayne Shorter, The Beatles, Miles Davis…all those types of musicians that have had such a large impact on music and how the art form has evolved.
				(Photo: Allen Clarke)
	IF YOU COULD LIVE/WORK ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, WHERE WOULD IT BE ?			Great question! I would live on the road, because all I want to do is play. But since we are on the topic, it sure would be great to have a beautiful house on the beach to return to between tours. With a recording studio and a nice wine cellar…
				(Photo: Deneka Peniston)
	WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST NON-ART JOB?			K-12 substitute teacher! It was a blast.
				(Photo: Deneka Peniston)
				(Photo: Deneka Peniston)
	WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT?			All the music I haven’t written yet.
				(Photo: Deneka Peniston)
	WHAT GETS YOU UP IN THE MORNING ?			All the music I haven’t written yet…
				(Photo: Eddie Malluk)
				Visit Jake Hertzog… www.jakehertzog.com www.theyoungpresidents.com www.heyjazzguy.com facebook.com/jakehertzogjazz @jakehertzogjazz YouTube.com/jakehertzog