© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all
rights reserved.
“Jesse van ruler is an old
soul whose musical personality is firmly embedded in the here-and-now, he plays
the lingua franca material with fresh perspective and idiomatic nuance.”
-Ted Panken, Jazz DJ and author
“While American audiences
like to think they have a corner on the jazz market, there's no denying the
fact that this art form native to the Unites States has also become a universal
language being practiced throughout the world. One might even further suggest
that there have been several key contributors to the jazz legacy who have come
from foreign lands, thus leaving their own personal stamp on a music that now
is multi-faceted and multicultural in scope.
From a guitarist's perspective, few would deny that European artists
such as Django Reinhardt and Rene Thomas hold their own in the pantheon of jazz
plectrists alongside American heavyweights such as Kenny Burrell or Wes
Montgomery.
Add to the list of
distinguished European guitarists the name of Jesse Van Ruller, the first
non-American to win the illustrious Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition and an
Amsterdam native who is beginning to perk the interest of American audiences
with his original style and talents as a composer.”
- C. Andrew Hovan, Jazz author
One wonders, where
does the Jazz path begin for a young guitarist born in Amsterdam Utrecht
Next to drums,
guitar is perhaps the most popular instrument in the world.
But one would
think that contemporary youngsters who are interested in popular music, grow up
dreaming of becoming a rock guitarist and not a Jazz instrumentalist.
With Jazz radio
and television broadcasts vanishing at hyper speed, where does a youngster even
hear Jazz today?
Put another way: Holland Utrecht Beijing
For Jesse van
Ruller, his journey into Jazz began serendipitously as suggested in the title
to his first Criss Cross CD Here and There [1217] and recounted
by Ted Panken in these insert notes to
the recording:
"As a kid, I
liked the Pop music that was on the radio, like Queen and Van Halen, and the
music my parents listened to, like Fleetwood Mac, the Stones, the Beatles and
Bob Dylan," Van Ruller relates. "When I started playing guitar, it
was Classical first. I started electric guitar at 11, and started improvising a
little bit, without the harmony, but on one chord most of the time. When I was
14 and heard George Benson, who plays jazz harmony, but in a Pop way that I
understood and was used to, I loved it immediately.
The jazz aspect
was completely new and mysterious to me, the notes he played were so different
than the notes you heard from Rock players, and I wanted to figure out how it
worked.
Then I found out
about John Scofield, and went to the library and borrowed Still Warm. It was a new world. From that moment, it took
me and it's never let me go."
The aspirant
gobbled up guitar vocabulary, paying close attention to iconic recordings and
occasionally traveling from Bilthoven to nearby Utrecht
"I don't
think I play like John Scofield, but he was my bridge from Pop music to Jazz.
Probably what I liked so much about him was the dissonance of his lines, and
the way he phrases; he sounds like a saxophone player to me, which is something
I've always wanted to get.
Then I read an
interview where Scofield mentioned other guys, older guitarists like Jimmy
Raney and Wes Montgomery, and also Pat Martino and Pat Metheny, whom I didn't
know at that time. So I went to the library and found some of their records.
"Wes
Montgomery is like our godfather for his unparalleled groove. Jimmy Raney was
probably the first guitarist I heard who was not a Fusion or Jazz-Rock player;
I love the way he outlined the harmony so tastefully within his very melodic
lines. And Pat Martino was a huge influence in terms of emphasizing notes or
accents in lines and playing dynamically.
"When I got
to the Hilversum Conservatory, I discovered Peter Bernstein, who is now a
friend. I got a lot from hearing how he treated the tradition, taking the whole
background of Wes Montgomery and George Benson and Pat Martino, and making his
very own voice. He confirmed that it was possible for someone closer to my age
to play in the tradition, but still make your own music, have your own sound.
Where I was learning, everybody had to play at least Fusion, everything new was
cool, but you were considered old-fashioned and boring for liking music that
had been played before, and it was hard to dare to play it. Peter gave me hope."
During
conservatory years, Van Ruller developed his talent with a vengeance. Not long
after his 1995 graduation, a friend (the singer Fleurine, who brought him to New York
"It had a big
impact on my career," Van Ruller acknowledges. "I had a lot of press
attention in Holland
As you can see,
for someone of his generation, it was more a matter more of good fortune and
lucky associations that helped Jesse discover the secrets of Jazz.
Jazz fans of all
ages are certainly a major beneficiary of Jesse’s voyage of self-discovery.
Jesse appears with trumpeter John Swana performing John’s Philly Jazz with bassist John Patitucci and drummer Eric Harland.
Joe’s Bar Mitzvah, an original by fellow Dutchman, alto
saxophonist Benjamin Herman, finds Jesse performing with Hammond B-3 organist,
Larry Goldings and drummer, Idris Muhammud.
Jesse is the
resident guitarist with the Amsterdam-based, Jazz Orchestra of the
Concertgebouw, and he and this excellent big band perform his original
composition The Secret Champ on this
closing video.
