J.E.R.M. was born between 1994 and '96 out
of casual weekly meetings, that soon became a
serious musical tinkering session for Ed Nicholson
(Drummer), Rolf Schlonvogt (Saxophonist), Michael
Beck (Pianist) and Jacob. Since 1998 J.E.R.M. has
recorded and concertized in the US and Europe
"Jacob is a true breath of fresh air......special spirit.....one of my favorite musicians.....formidable bass skills...rare and wonderful...inspiring and motivational...
one of the most exciting I’d ever experienced." (Joe Hunt-4/2/04)
"...refined tone... fluid... bassist William..." J. Nannen (Jazz Review)
Short Bio.
Jacob was born (May 9, 1965) in Madras (Chennai), in India. From a very young age he traveled extensively and grew-up in a multi-cultural family and attended parochial school. His earliest years in music were spent singing in choirs and being engaged in informal learning of a wide array of diverse hybrid musics. In his teens, while studying Economics and Finance at Christ College in Bangalore, he devoted much of his time to self-study of various instruments including guitar and drum set. In 1985, he decided to focus on the bass guitar and soon began playing concerts and festivals all over India with many forward looking elder musicians with a particularly deep interest in Jazz. In 1991, he moved to the U.S. after receiving a scholarship to study music and since then, he has been living and working in the Boston area.
He collaborates with like-minded contemporaries and has worked with Jazz luminaries and world-music masters including, Abraham Adzenyah, Anthony Braxton, Maynard Ferguson, Amit Heri, Jim Hobbs, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Charlie Mariano, Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe, Omar Sosa, T. Viswanathan, to name a few.
He was founding member of the group J.E.R.M.with which, between 1998 and 2003 he recorded and toured in the US and Europe. He has appeared in numerous festivals, Indian National Television and Radio DRS (Zurich). And, he has contributed to records released on labels such as Intuition and Warner Bros.
Jacob has composed for variety of instrumental, vocal and electronic forces, Jazz combos and, for Theater and New Music Ensembles including Memories/Ruminations, a ninety-minute piece for eighteen assorted instrumentalists. Also, interested in exploring the intersections of computer aided real-time interactive improvisation and composition, he is currently researching programming / programmable environments.
In 2001, Jacob received a Master of Arts in music from Wesleyan University, where, his studies focused on experimental composition under the guidance of Anthony Braxton, Neely Bruce and Alvin Lucier. As part of the department of world-music at Wesleyan he also studied South-Indian vocal music with T. Viswanathan and percussion music with Ramanad Raghavan and David Nelson. During 1998-1999 he attended the New England Conservatory of Music and studied in the department of contemporary improvisation under Ran Blake and studied the Bass under Cecil Mcbee and John Lockwood. From Berklee College of music he earned a Bachelor of music degree in 1997, after studying Composition and Arranging while concentrating on jazz performance. During this time he also participated in Kenny Werner and Bob Brookmeyer master classes in composition and improvisation. And, he privately studied jazz improvisation with John Laporta, Hal Crook and Charlie Banacos.
Aside from his activities as bass player/improvisor/composer, he is also involved with SETC and MIT joint initiative Learn 2 Teach, Teach 2 Learn. As part of this effort he is introducing music composition to children and youth using open-ended software tools in collaboration with scientists and educators who are designing, developing, and deploying new and emergent technologies to significantly impact broad ranging learning processes.
Jacob is also a Visiting Lecturer in Music at Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA.
Jacob as part of Amit Heri Trio:
Amit Heri-Guitar and compositions * Ranjit Barot-Drums
Jacob, Happy New Year! I'm in Switzerland right now visiting my parents and my sister is here too. Believe it or not but my sister lives in Auroville, India close to Chennai!! You probably know the place. I can't wait to go there myself. I wish you and your loved ones all the best in 2009 and hope to see and play with you again sometime soon!!
Hey Jacob, I got more feedback from my friend on music healing. He was drawn to the trumpet but realized that it was the total sound and your ensemble leadership that really made the difference.
Joe Morris sends his regards, he'll be at Sillypad with Dave Maxwell and Tronzo, Hobbs, etc. tomorrow.
WOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Jacob!!! Holy crapamole man its good to see your face! You sound awesome bro! I see you got an upright! hahahaha I knew that would happen ;)
Hey Jacob, been a long time!!! sipping whiskey at wesleyan graduation must've been the last time we had a hang. hope all is well up in B-town and with the music! Matt
Jacob! That's great, how long has it been?! I hope everything is fine with you, so you are in Boston still/again? Let me know if you visit New York, all the best
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