Spotlight: Avi Bortnick

Every now and again it seems best to record a video interview with a musician who has something to demonstrate that might be lost in print. A video interview appeared a good idea with Avi Bortnick because, aside from being devilishly handsome (sorry about failing to notice we were cutting off the top of your head Avi), it let him show Guitar Moderne readers some of the laptop techniques and plugins he has been employing in the second guitar chair in John Scofield’s Überjam band. We also covered a wide range of other topics including the cool apps he has developed: Time Guru, and Voxbeat. Be sure to check out the videos below for demonstrations of his rhythm guitar genius and laptop effects in action, as well more info on his gear.

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Rant: American Nu-Jazz

For the most part Europeans, and especially Scandinavians, are miles ahead of Americans when it comes to the seamless integration of jazz with sampling, beats, and electronics that is Nü-Jazz. Nils Petter Molvær brought out Khmer in 1995, while Bugge Wesseltoft, Jazzanova and St. Germain have been working this territory easily as long. Guitarists mining this particular type of fusion also seem to reside on the east side of the Atlantic: Eivind Aarset, Bram Stadhouders, Jeff Beck, Stian Westerhus, and Nguyên Lê have been long at home with the grooves of EDM and/or the sounds of experimental electronica.

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