Guitar with Jesse W.

BIO Jesse West is a guitarist, bassist, teacher, composer, and audio engineer from Fort Wayne, Indiana. He has over twenty years of experience writing and composing original music. Groups that Jesse has played with include heavy hitters in the Chicago and Indianapolis jazz scenes, including the Phil Schurger Group, the Clif Wallace Trio, and the Sophie Faught Quintet. He has also played gigs with Indiana University jazz professors Pat Harbison, Monika Herzig, and Tom Walsh. In 2018, West played in the Cuban Son and Danzón groups Soneros La Caliza, Orquesta Esquela Vieja lead by Dr. Joe Galvin. Jesse is a member of South American groups KelsiCote, and Matixando Bloomington based in Indiana. West was also a member of the touring indie rock group Step Softly, Ghost on the Asia Minor label. Jesse's music is forward looking with deep roots, and a definite nod towards ambient, dub and world music. His influences bounce from future soul group Hiatus Kaiyote to future dancehall group Major Lazer, with a touch of Jah Wobble in between. West likes to personalize already existing material as a viable form of new expression like in his cover of Thunder. Jesse is known to write more progressive improvised music too, like Twitter Chatter. A song which the great arranger and jazz composer Brent Wallarab helped to write. It begins with a simple motive and mutates over an ever changing form. Like much of West's writing, the composition is grounded in world influences including Brazilian jazz and Afro Cuban music among other things. Jesse holds a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the Jacobs School of Music. He has studied Afro Cuban and Brazilian music with Grammy nominated artists and educators Michael Spiro and Wayne Wallace. West has also studied jazz improvisation with the renown improviser Walter Smith III, and studied improvisation and pedagogy with the legendary educators David Baker and Pat Harbison. Jesse has also studied music technology and and audio engineering. West ran live sound in addition to playing bass for the US Navy Band earning him the prestigious Navy Achievement Medal. He hopes to be an inspiration to aspiring composers who want to find their own voice. West has taught a private studio for over a decade and coached high school bands both in Indiana and California.