Guitar

At the age of 11, Jeff took up the guitar as a way to get invited to parties and meet girls. His friends told him – “guys in bands are more popular and get all the girls”. And, it worked! However, something unexpected happened – Jeff got so deeply into studying and playing the guitar, he stopped going to (some) parties (however his interest in girls remained quite strong!).

Growing up in Oakland, Jeff got to see new and upcoming bands like Tower of Power, Santana, Mike Bloomfield, John Lee Hooker, Credence Clearwater, and Sly and the Family Stone. Jeff was fortunate enough to have even seen Jimi Hendrix live! His first major influences on guitar were BB, Freddy, and Albert King; Mike Bloomfield, and Jimi Hendrix; during his high school years he mostly played in blues, soul, and r-and-b bands.

After high school, Jeff dropped out of college to try and make a living playing music. He started playing Jazz, Funk-Jazz, and Fusion music. However, it was tough to get a gig doing these styles of music. Since anything was better than having to get a “day job” – he traveled up and down the west coast playing in disco bands. Jeff says his major claim to fame in the late 70’s was having played at every Holiday Inn on I-5 between Canada and Mexico.

Finally, Jeff came to the realization that being a “star at the Holiday Inn”, playing Bee Gee’s songs - was not really a great thing! So, he quit the bands and returned home to attend college at UC Berkeley and Cal. State Hayward. Fortunately – Jeff was able to land a spot in a local working band while going to college – so he managed to avoid getting a “real job” for a little while longer.

After Jeff got his degree in Computer Science – he finally got a real day job!  Since then he has established himself as a top-notch Software Engineer/Developer – specializing in Microsoft Windows, .NET, and Web development. Jeff also teaches programming for the UC Santa Cruz extension.

Some of Jeff’s other musical influences include: John Coltrane, Charley Bird, Miles Davis, early George Benson, Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrel, Charlie Hunter, Carlos Santana, and Laurence Juber. Over the last several years, Jeff has been playing solo-style steel string guitar (finger-picking). He has a CD of his solo work planned.

Jeff takes something Carlos Santana said to heart – play with your own signature and sound – i.e. play with your heart and soul. Jeff’s solos combine many different styles combining Jazz, Fusion, Blues, and Rock phrasing. In fact, Jeff believes guitar players can learn a lot about soloing by listening to great Sax and Trumpet players (e.g. Coltrane, Bird, Davis), as well as other guitar players.

Playing strong rhythms is just as important as soloing to Jeff. There are many good guitar players who can “rip” solos; but there are very few that can drive the rhythm. Jeff believes that, like the bass, the rhythm guitar needs to “lock in” with the drums. Additionally, the rhythm guitar must support and compliment the vocals too.

Jeff would like to thank his family and special friends for supporting him. He would also like to thank the members of Latin Affect (both current and former members) – Carlos, Joe Ray, Jose, Ray, Jess, Bruce, Ernesto, Charlie, and Mondo for letting him have the privilege of playing in a band as special as Latin Affect.