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Robert Jacobson

A guitarist, composer, and improviser based in Los Angeles and Florida, Robert Jacobson holds degrees in guitar performance from USC and the California Institute of the Arts. Jacobson studied under the direction of Scott Tennant, Miroslav Tadic, Vinny Golia, Pat Kelly, Joe Diorio, and Frank Potenza. His music reflects his training in classical guitar, jazz, open improvisation, and Balinese gamelan. He was also the curator of the Los Angeles music series Fat Tuesdays and Ear Orchard. Jacobson currently plays Tambouras in Balkan folk band Veselba which performs dance music of Bulgaria and Macedonia.

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Album Review

Robert Jacobson: Coldwater

Read "Coldwater" reviewed by Paul West


Guitarist Robert Jacobson and his backup trio get off and running in their very first track in their improvisational album Coldwater, which often plays like an extended, yet fairly balanced, jam session. Of course, the timing and orchestration are structured in the form of an album, but there’s a sense that these guys could keep playing and playing, and never get tired – and that, with more time, they might have come up with even more eclectic results.

Approaching each ...

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Greg Burk,

"Jazz guitar" doesn't mean what it used to. With the improv scene lacking any dominant genre (bebop, funk-jazz, fusion), musicians can just play what they feel, and that's an advantage. On his new Coldwater, for instance, local guy Robert Jacobson gives you a sniff of Ornette, Steely Dan, bop and blues, but only a sniff because he's got a lot of ideas, and he wants them all to sound like him. Which they do. The common factors include and edgy electric-guitar tone from Jacobson, slightly sprung rhythms, and layered arrangements that allot each instrument it's own distinct space, Wayne Peet's organ often acting as a soulful foundation.

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Ritual Communication

Banana Bread
2010

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Svara

Lila Vihun Music
2010

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Coldwater

Banana Bread Records
2002

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