all music © 2007 j’amusing music, bmi

Early Life & Work
Raised in Wisconsin, Jess’ interest in music began at an early age. To the young teenager, the Beatles with George Martin were of course, a huge influence. But while his classmates tuned in to top forty radio or rock ‘n’ roll, Jess went on to discover the world of jazz. He spent hours listening to John Coltrane, Wes Montgomery, Thelonius Monk and Dave Brubeck. With no formal training available in his small midwestern hometown Jess enrolled in Berkeley School of Music’s correspondence course and began studying music composition and arranging. He then began honing his craft by writing and recording advertising “ jingles” in nearby Milwaukee.

Upon marrying his high school sweetheart, they quickly decided that California was the place they oughta be so they loaded up the car and moved to Los Angeles, Studio City that is.

By focusing on technical virtuosity Jess began to receive requests to play in recording sessions, hire out as a sideman for touring recording artists and perform at clubs and private events all throughout the 1970s and early ‘80s.

Mid-life & Work
In 1983, Jess and family made the decision to leave Los Angeles to move to the Monterey Peninsula. It proved to be a time for the development of a new creative venture, graphic design. Music was put on hold for a number of years while he delved into the field of visual design, photography and advertising. High-end resorts noticed his work and for more than twenty years hired him to design business identities, logos, collateral materials and to art-direct photography sessions.

Jess’ enormous musical energy and talent remained dormant until 1992, when he wrote and recorded “Sanctuary”, a CD that received airplay for months on jazz stations throughout the U.S. and charted on industry publications.

Later Life & Work
By 1997, Jess’ view turned to the land, specifically with the intention of returning to his roots to live in a more rural setting. Napa Valley proved to be the ideal location and the family bought an old farmhouse on 14-acres on which they developed a cabernet sauvignon vineyard.

At the turn of the century, the creative muse once again began to call. She wouldn’t take no for an answer and so Jess intensely began to refocus on the world of music and digital recording, producing cinematic pieces that are bound to make the listener feel or see something in a new way.

The cycle seems to have come full circle. These days Jess spends most of his time in his studio working on another composition. “My intention was always to write and produce music, as it’s always in my head,” he says. “In my mind, I hear music continuously. It’s an ongoing ensemble of sound, that seems to react spontaneously to what I see and experience.”