Draft:Jo Jena

Jo Jena (* 1979) is a guitarist and composer.

Life and Work
Jo Jena studied composition with Elliott Sharp and Julio Herrlein as well as Jazzguitar with Michael Gechter. He received a scholarship of Berkeley College of Music and was participant in the 5th Ensemble Modern Youth Forum. He collaborated with Rhys Chatham ("An angel moves too fast to see"), Bertram Ritter, Mia Dyberg F.I.M. & MOMEM, Nachtierhaus, Flowarea und Jason Schneider. He was the first electric guitarist to arrange and record Schönbergs 6 little piano pieces, Opus 19.

Jena released 20 recordings so far ranging from modal jazz, ambient to avantgarde. His music is frequently reviewed internationally, i.e. by Marc Weidenbaum‘s Disquiet, Guitar Moderne , Neuguitars oder Minor 7th.

Discography

 * inselplatz frieden (1998) (with pantasz)
 * 3 studien für stratocaster/heisse luft (2000)
 * rhythm n drones (2004)
 * electroacoustic experiments (2005)
 * songs for bi (2005)
 * landgrafen (2018)
 * schney soundsystem (2018) (with burtis knight)
 * miniaturen (2019)
 * solo improvisations (2019)
 * nadir (2020)
 * solo improvisations II (2020)
 * schönberg opus 16, 6 little piano pieces arranged for electric guitar (2021)
 * solo improvisations III (2021)
 * krautfunk (2021)
 * solo improvisations IV (2022)
 * selected free solos I (2022)
 * hydrangea (2022)
 * selected free solos II (2023)
 * jo jena & burtis knight (2023) (with burtis knight)
 * trial 721 (2024)

Weblinks

 * personal website of Jo Jena
 * website of imm records
 * on Discogs