I'm not jumping in this with both feet but anyone who thinks Jesse is just a penatonic player hasn't listened to Verbal Penetration.

I think a lot of Prince fans have watched him grow considerably over the years through all of the music he has released but with artists like Jesse who haven't released a lot of music consecutively, they may not be as aware of the growth that occurs in between CDs. Often times people will keep an artist in a bubble when they have actually grown far beyond that. Jesse is one of those artists. His guitar work on VP is fantastic.

While he may drop the traditional solos like he does on the title track, he ventures much further into his jazz roots on Frasier vs. Ali and goes far beyond penatonics. His playing on songs like Beautiful Sadie are bluesy but very beautiful. The solo in Get Next To You is a shredder's delight. Jesse has grown a lot as a player and I think its evident on Verbal Penetration. The thing is, some artists throw a lot on one release, thinking or knowing it may be a while before they get to "do it big" again, while others (like Prince) who have the resources may release more material or try to record every thought they have (like Prince). Different styles for different folks. Anyway, Jesse is a bad ass axeman.

[Edited 9/6/11 17:44pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

I'm not jumping in this with both feet but anyone who thinks Jesse is just a penatonic player hasn't listened to Verbal Penetration.

I think a lot of Prince fans have watched him grow considerably over the years through all of the music he has released but with artists like Jesse who haven't released a lot of music consecutively, they may not be as aware of the growth that occurs in between CDs. Often times people will keep an artist in a bubble when they have actually grown far beyond that. Jesse is one of those artists. His guitar work on VP is fantastic.

While he may drop the traditional solos like he does on the title track, he ventures much further into his jazz roots on Frasier vs. Ali and goes far beyond penatonics. His playing on songs like Beautiful Sadie are bluesy but very beautiful. The solo in Get Next To You is a shredder's delight. Jesse has grown a lot as a player and I think its evident on Verbal Penetration. The thing is, some artists throw a lot on one release, thinking or knowing it may be a while before they get to "do it big" again, while others (like Prince) who have the resources may release more material or try to record every thought they have (like Prince). Different styles for different folks. Anyway, Jesse is a bad ass axeman.

[Edited 9/6/11 17:44pm]

Ayup. Just got VP yesterday.

Was shaking my head at his skills on Ali vs. Frasier while stuck in afternoon traffic today. Jesse's a beast.

Adisa said:

ohYeeeeeah said:

Adisa said:

And what I'm telling you is that it really doesn't matter what you are telling us.

Your credentials and who and what you thinkl you know are irrlelevant to this discussion. We are sharing opinions and speculating about musical influence and what's appealing to the ear and mind. Some say Jesse for whatever reason, some say Prince and Joe Blow at the local bar.

You are the genius who said Prince guitar playing was easy to learn and replicate. What kind of arrogant shit you are to write such bullcrap? I tried to talk about music to you. This is obviously beyond your knowledge and skills. I gave you one example with BB King. Try to replicate this solo on youtube. Try. Not too many notes to learn. You can learn the notes and his tricks. You will NEVER play it as well as him. It is the same when it comes to Prince's guitar playing. [Edited 9/7/11 0:00am]

See? It really doesn't fucking matter what you say or think. You getting all mad, throwing shade and insults at people...over Prince and his guitar playing. That's precious.

Adisa said:

ohYeeeeeah said:

Adisa said: You are the genius who said Prince guitar playing was easy to learn and replicate. What kind of arrogant shit you are to write such bullcrap? I tried to talk about music to you. This is obviously beyond your knowledge and skills. I gave you one example with BB King. Try to replicate this solo on youtube. Try. Not too many notes to learn. You can learn the notes and his tricks. You will NEVER play it as well as him. It is the same when it comes to Prince's guitar playing. [Edited 9/7/11 0:00am]

See? It really doesn't fucking matter what you say or think. You getting all mad, throwing shade and insults at people...over Prince and his guitar playing. That's precious.

I'm glad you're admitting you know shit about guitar playing.

Just looked at Gibson.com's list of the 50 greatest guitarist of all time, Prince is listed at 14th for the reasons noted on this thread. My only question was.....where is Jesse Johnson?, then I remembered, no ones ever heard of Jesse Johnson, lol. With all due respect, Jesse has left no imprint on the world of music (as a guitarist or otherwise). Apparently, Prince has!

Get a fucking life and some common sense.

The only reason you are interested in Jesse Johnsons guitar skills, is because he was part of the Prince camp.

And that you are stuck in the early eighties and the R&B mindset. I cant take people focussing at black artists from the early eighties seriously at all.

That has nothing to do with racism, but with your surplus of misplaced ignorance.

ohYeeeeeah said:

Adisa said:

See? It really doesn't fucking matter what you say or think. You getting all mad, throwing shade and insults at people...over Prince and his guitar playing. That's precious.

I'm glad you're admitting you know shit about guitar playing.

I did, if you actually read and possess comprehension skills. but agian, knowing shit about guitar is irrelevant.

Maybe your problem is you should have studied language and comprehension for 35 years instead of guitar. The former would serve you much better on this thread.

Riverman37 said:

Get a fucking life and some common sense.

The only reason you are interested in Jesse Johnsons guitar skills, is because he was part of the Prince camp.

And that you are stuck in the early eighties and the R&B mindset. I cant take people focussing at black artists from the early eighties seriously at all.

That has nothing to do with racism, but with your surplus of misplaced ignorance.

So according to your post:

1. Prince, being a black artist from the 80s, is not worthy of being taken seriously.

2. People that pay him attention are in need of a life and common sense.

3. The artists from the "Prince camp" are only interesting in that they are part of the "Prince camp".

4. You may be a racist, but more than likely everyone else is just loaded with misplaced ignorance.

Wow, thanks for clearing that up. Mods, we can lock this thread now and back in the enlightment.

Naaah..

More like: Prince was one of the more promising, rewarding black artists from the early eighties.

People overestimate the importance of the likes of Jesse Johnson because they were part of the Prince camp, not exactly based on artistic credentials.

[Edited 9/7/11 16:55pm]

None of that matters. Jesse is a bad ass guitarist. In my opinion, he's a better guitar player than Prince. Popularity is not a factor when it comes to proficiency. Greg Howe is less popular than Prince and probably less popular than Jesse but neither of them are in the same stratosphere as he is on guitar. Popularity does not define skill.

[Edited 9/7/11 17:37pm]

BlaqueKnight said:

None of that matters. Jesse is a bad ass guitarist. In my opinion, he's a better guitar player than Prince. Popularity is not a factor when it comes to proficiency. Greg Howe is less popular than Prince and probably less popular than Jesse but neither of them are in the same stratospher as he is on guitar. Popularity does not define skill.

Thank you!! Because the best guitar player I've ever seen and heard is lesser known than all the above. One of his senior students was/ is the editor of one of the popular guitar magazines, can't remember which one. But that's how bad he is, and his lack of name recognition among the average consumer has nada to do with his skills.

All i'm sayin' is if Jesse was such a unique talent on guitar, seems like someone in the community of guitar enthusiasts would have noticed. His association with Prince has given him ample visibility and opportunity to make a name for himself as great guitarist, but it didn't happen. IMHO, Jesse is too derivative, he just does not stand out.

To my ear (and apparently the ears of others), Prince plays the guitar distinctively, with grit, beauty and elegance (all at the same time). His solo's have that rare combination, like a Jordan dunk and a Ali jab.

I grew up listening to my brother blasting everything from Hendrix to Led Zeppelin, BB King to the Eagles.

The Great ones play with grit, beauty and elegance.

Riverman37 said:

Get a fucking life and some common sense.

The only reason you are interested in Jesse Johnsons guitar skills, is because he was part of the Prince camp.

And that you are stuck in the early eighties and the R&B mindset. I cant take people focussing at black artists from the early eighties seriously at all.

That has nothing to do with racism, but with your surplus of misplaced ignorance.

This is very rockist of you

mzsadii said:

What differnece does it make? They both are great in their own rights.

Adisa said:

ohYeeeeeah said:

I'm glad you're admitting you know shit about guitar playing.

I did, if you actually read and possess comprehension skills. but agian, knowing shit about guitar is irrelevant.

Maybe your problem is you should have studied language and comprehension for 35 years instead of guitar. The former would serve you much better on this thread.

Found you on the web! I knew there was something seriously wrong with you.

Take a good look at the "wanna be your man" video, and come back and tell us that Jesse influenced Prince...like some are insinuating here

Jesse plays from a blues foundation and Prince plays from a jazz foundation. To sit in a room and listen to Jesse play is like watching a great artist paint. It's something amazing to hear. When Prince "allows his spirit to be free with his musicianship" it's like watching a kid fly a kite there is liberation in his best guitar work. It's the segments of expression from each artist when they play guitar, which is limiting because they both play multiple instruments so its kinda not an accurate way to judge the two.

Ionian, dorian, mixolydian, aeolian, pentatonic would be good dragon names.

Whitnail said:

Take a good look at the "wanna be your man" video, and come back and tell us that Jesse influenced Prince...like some are insinuating here

What if you're mistaking familiarity for chronology?

BlaqueKnight said:

minneapolisFunq said:

BlaqueKnight!, save us!

"They're both pretty?"

LMAO!

Wow! It's amazing to me this topic is still subject to so much debate. How many times has this resurfaced on the org. I was resisting comment since this is so beating a dead horse. I can understand pefering one over the other. Slagging either one of them is unecessary.

To answer the original question of influence, I'd say that Prince was not influential in Jesse developing his style or approach as a guitarist. Sorry I'm just not hearing it in his playing.

If there was any direct influence from Prince it would be along the lines of how he produced other artist and his songwritting and I'm talking about the earlier portion of his career.

For the poster who took Jesse to task for his lack of taste or restraint when soloing. He should revisit his earlier recordings and playing he's done for other artist he's writen for and produced.

My favorite being the track "Lonely Heart" that's on the 1st Tamara and The Seen LP. It's broken up into two segnents on the album. However, It's best heard in its entirety as the B-side to the "Everybody Dance" Maxi- single.

I don't get how Jesse is labeled a show-off or a wanker when He's doing what the tune calls for, loud in your face soloing. I expect the playing to be even more over the top especially in a concert setting. I love B.B. King, but seriously that approach would be out of place in a tune like "Blondie" or "The Skillet".

[Edited 10/12/11 9:02am]

Post #143 (duplicate of post #142) deleted (langebleu)

Prince and Jesse are both great players, that why Prince brought him in, but when it come down to it Prince is a better player in all respects. BTW I have seen and heard all of Jesse's stuff. If you want to see someone that will bust both their asses, check this out:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/mfVf7N8CJEA[youtube] and [youtube]http://youtu.be/5R9tEb3Dl2c[youtube]

[Edited 10/11/11 21:31pm]

joyinrepetition said:

Prince and Jesse are both great players, that why Prince brought him in, but when it come down to it Prince is a better player in all respects. BTW I have seen and heard all of Jesse's stuff. If you want to see someone that will bust both their asses, check this out:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/mfVf7N8CJEA[youtube] and [youtube]http://youtu.be/5R9tEb3Dl2c[youtube]

[Edited 10/11/11 21:31pm]

If it's not too much trouble. Could you post a regular Youtube link? They're not working for me here @ the office. Heck I'll even take the name of said ass-kicking guitarist and seek out clips myself. Very Interested in seeing who this individual is.

I'm a major guitar geek. Hopefully this isn't someone I'm already familiar with. Thanks in advance.

joyinrepetition said:

Prince and Jesse are both great players, that why Prince brought him in, but when it come down to it Prince is a better player in all respects. BTW I have seen and heard all of Jesse's stuff. If you want to see someone that will bust both their asses, check this out:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/mfVf7N8CJEA[youtube] and [youtube]http://youtu.be/5R9tEb3Dl2c[youtube]

[Edited 10/11/11 21:31pm]

I got my issue with the links sorted out....but c'mon Charo? I give her major props. She's the real deal as far as Flamenco and classical guitar and she is a former student of Segovia. However, She's not a rock guitarist so I can't take your statement that she could Smoke Jesse & Prince seriously. It's like comparing Joe Pass to Robin Trower totally apples & oranges.

Now if you were comparing Charo to Paco De Lucia..... See my point?