About JAKE HERTZOG

Guitar Player is calling him"…the blazing wunderkind" and "one of the finest young jazz guitarists on the scene”. Award-winning jazz-rock guitarist and composer, Jake Hertzog, has just released his fifth studio album, an all-standards recording called Beyond The Standard Model. The project has just been digitally released exclusively on jakehertzog.com. Jake most recently headlined at the world famous Blue Note Jazz club in New York, and has performed across the US and Europe.

Jake's prior release, Throwback [Zoho], features special guest  jazz fusion icon Randy Brecker.  Throwback highlights the unique contemporary sound of Jake's original music and a back-to-basics traditional recording philosophy. It was produced by Grammy award winner, Rob Fraboni [Rolling Stones, The Band, Eric Clapton, Wayne Shorter]. "Throwback emerges as a major milestone in Hertzog's young career" - Glenn Astarita, All About Jazz. 

Hertzog's first three albums, Chromatosphere (2009), Patterns (2010) [Buckyball Records], and Evolution (2011) [Buckyball Records], quickly gained international regard and critical acclaim, including a five page interview in Guitar Player magazine (June 2009) highlighting his unique technique and approach to modern jazz guitar. 

For three years, Jake stood as musical director and lead guitarist for Nickelodeon's The Naked Brothers Band stars, Nat and Alex Wolff. They concluded two national tours and have performed on countless national television shows including Good Morning America, The View, Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards and The Today Show.

A true dual jazz-rock musician, Jake is co-leader and co-songwriter of the rock band The Young Presidents with bassist Mitch Kaneff. Their latest album, a guest vocalist project called Coalition [MKM], debuted in top 200 on the AAA radio charts, VH1 and MTV, with the single "Time" featuring Ivan Neville. Coalition also features such legendary talent as Corey Glover (Living Colour), Blondie Chaplin (The Rolling Stones, Beach Boys), and Anton Fig (Drummer for the Letterman Show). The record represents a landmark collaboration for the band and was also produced by the brilliant Grammy winner, Rob Fraboni. The Young Presidents also produced a short documentary on the making of the project entitled "Building The Coalition" that premiered at New York's VisionFest Film Festival in June 2013. Their first album Freedom Of Speech was played on AAA radio in 2011 featuring the single "Wide Open". 

As a songwriter and producer, Jake's latest hit "Aware, Alive, Awake" by Sariah reached #23 on the Billboard Dance Charts in 2015.

Under the alias Hey Jazz Guy, Jake is a frequent contributor to Guitar Player magazine’s ‘Lessons’ section. He has over 30 published articles with coinciding YouTube instructional videos. Guitar Player has coined him the “Jazz ambassador to the non-jazz world”. Readers can visit the Official Hey Jazz Guy website for articles and tutorial videos. Recent master classes and clinics include Jazztravaganza at the Clarion Performing Arts Center in Lake Jackson, Texas, Turku Conservatory in Finland, Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA.,Women In Jazz in Halle, Germany and a faculty position at the Swarnhaboomi Academy of Music in Chennai, India. 

After winning of the Grand Prize in 2006 for the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition in Switzerland, he was invited back in 2007 to open for John Scofield and Medeski, Martin and Wood. Jake is an alum of Berklee College of Music and recipient of several performance scholarships. He got his Masters at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music and now teach at the university of Arkansas

In additional to his musical work, Hertzog also holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Arkansas. His research focuses on how higher music education is adapting to the digital music industry. Other research includes data use in the music industry, music ecosystems, ambisonic improvisation, and entrepreneurial pedagogy. Hertzog’ research has appeared at numerous international conferences and in journals such as Artivate, and Jazz Education in Research and Practice, and Journal of Popular Music Education. Most recently, Hertzog’s innovative music ecosystem research is being supported by the National Endowment for the Arts with results of multiple studies anticipated in 2025.