JAKE HERTZOG

OZARK CONCERTO

Zoho Records

This is an orchestrated concerto for guitar, jazz big band, and string quartet. Guitarist Jake Hertzog decided to fortify his musical direction after receiving a generous grant from the South Arts Organization, the Doris Duke Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Once funding became available, Hertzog began to dream a lot bigger. The result is this album. It combines his classical and jazz studies and his rock roots.

Hertzog began work on this large-scale project with much excitement. He would feature a jazz orchestra, his guitar brilliance, and strings. This new, elaborate work is a throwback to when Kenny Burrell blended his guitar with the Gil Evans Orchestra in 1965. Hertzog also patterned it after John McLaughlin’s “The Mediterranean Concerto” with the London Symphony in 1988.

It’s a far cry from his trio work with drummer Victor Jones and bassist Harvie S. back in 2013.

Jake Hertzog’s dream-come-true concerto had its world premiere in April of 2024. It was part of the UARK Jazz Festival on the Fayetteville campus of the University of Arkansas. At the same time, he was releasing a small ensemble recording called “Longing to Meet You.” But the whole time, he was writing scores for this “Ozark Concerto.”

“I wanted to make not just a collection of songs that happened to have large ensemble backing, but I wanted to create something that from start to finish followed more of an orchestral or classical philosophy of what a feature for an instrument could be. It’s telling the story of an instrument all the way through,” Hertzog shares his inspiration and plans for this recording.

Hertzog cites two guitar players for providing his road map for the Ozark Concerto.

“I saw Pat Metheny do ‘The Way Up’ live. That remains one of the all-time greatest shows I’ve ever seen. His conception that the guitar would be the driving soloist in a large-scale, hour-long work was just such an achievement to me,” Hertzog expressed his appreciation and inspiration for Metheny.

“I also like the way that Kurt Rosenwinkel uses the big band and how he explores the role of the guitar as an instrumental leader in that kind of an ensemble,” Jake praised Rosenwinkel’s sense of the orchestra and guitar relationship.

On this project, you will hear the way Hertzog sometimes uses his guitar in a very percussive way. There are four parts to this concerto. These suites give Hertzog time to explore his proficient fingerstyle. His creativity and proficiency are reflected during his execution of sensitive and sometimes explosive solos. His guitar dances above the lush orchestration, often moving as quickly as lightning across an orchestrated sky. At other times, Hertzog nestles into the beautiful string harmonics like a burrowing bird.

Surprisingly, the music is sometimes contrapuntal, with the strings and the woodwinds each treading their own distinctive path before Hertzog enters to introduce us to the melody. Several members of the orchestra are also featured soloists who excel during their brief appearances in the spotlight.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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