I took lessons from Jesse at Star music on 15th street in Allentown. He was playing in a band called THE STAND On 2nd avenue in Bethlehem. He wrote down a bunch of stuff for me in a notebook which I misplaced and tore the place apart looking for it. One of the nicest down to earth rockers on the planet. Thank you Jesse. He also transcribed Clapton unplugged the Blue book. Great stuff. At the time he had an old Fender with stickers all over the case. He would tune a full step down and set his whammy bar all the way down so it literally scraped on the body. he would bend a note then grab the whammy bar and pull it up instead of dive bombing. First person I ever saw do it. And he would just show you whatever you wanted to see. KOOL DUDE
Thanks for sharing this story... I can't imagine how great the lessons with Jesse were! I can tell you, of all the articles I've read on guitar playing, his were always among very best. Somehow he just imparts the right information, in a totally relevant way. Without a doubt he was razor sharp, when writing for Guitar Player! Did you ever find that missing notebook with his teaching notes?
@@Mindboggle100 No sir, I never did locate it. And now that Jesse is a bona fide rockstar I would reeeally like to have it back. He heard me out front in the music store playing Becks Star Cycle and was in the back giving a lesson. He came out and payed me a very nice complement. He was a genuine, very gracious guy.He had written down the major blues scale and circled the root notes for me. He started a jam and asked me to solo over it. He saw I was week in my scales and wrote that for me. He said if I can play star cycle he couldnt teach me to play but could help with my playing by learning some scales. Which I promptly did. I looked around the net just to see if I could find some articles about him or written by him. And was heartbroken to find out Jesse is very sick. They have a go fund me page on the net. If you can , please donate. The clip said he is living in NY with his wife. I believe she was a part of Todd Rundgruns Scheduling or P&R or something to that effect. If life will allow say a prayer for Jesse, he is as passionate about life and music and his guitar as anyone Ive ever had the pleasure of knowing. Take care Bro
@@wanderdworld Thanks for the reply, and the news... Sorry to read Jesse is ill! Yes I will try and donate, just need to do some research on how & his illness etc. Maybe I can help him a little, its a coincidence having just picked up my guitar again after damaging my arms for over a year! Reading your story, it does seem to sum up Jesse, from what I can gleen from RUclips and other people's accounts of him. Of course, his own teaching articles is my only personal experience of him. He has a very effective way of teaching... I do have one suggestion for you, he wrote a book called the "Guitar Cookbook", which is very highly acclaimed. You can read reviews online, and I plan to buy it myself while its still available. Trust me, this will be a very useful book, Jesse definitely put "himself" into it, from what I gather. Sorry you never found that notebook he wrote up for you... you know it seems just about every serious player, has some anecdote on a major regret regarding something they lost , sold or someone they met in the guitar line! Well thanks for the information & good luck with your playing. Check out that book & if you hear anything you want to share, hit me up. Now going to try & donate to Jesse's health cause. Regards :-)
18:30, 23 May 2019, just 1 hour before Todd Rundgren's live in Tokyo Jesse was strolling along the street in front of the concert venue. When I found him I timidly said "Excuse me" and asked shake hands because I thought I luckily ran into Todd! Then Jesse kindly let me know my misunderstanding and hold my hand with great smile. I instantly became a big fan of him. He is a real gentleman. Of course I enjoyed his fantastic guitar play in the Todd's show. Thank you Jesse!
Excellent interview with Jesse Gress. Being only 7 yrs into guitar, it is always interesting at my level to see and hear how someone like Gress progressed and how he views playing the guitar, what / who inspired him, and just the tidbits of information pro's like Gress can offer to younger players such as myself. Thanks
Differentiated teacher, a good musician, fantastic transcriber, almost perfect I would say, since on guitar countless times there is no perfect transcription, especially when it comes to the universe Beatles, Hendrix, Beck, Page, May among others, a lot is learned from his lessons , the video content here is already an excellent sample.
I can't believe that Jesse is not here anymore. Thank you for keeping his love alive. 🤙💜
I was privileged to see him live a few times. What a great player and teacher... RIP.
So informative! Such a talent, and so humble. RIP, Jesse Gress. I'm so glad to have met him, many years ago.
RIP Jesse. We will always remember you!
Love this
Jesse passed on 2/21/23🌹
I took lessons from Jesse at Star music on 15th street in Allentown. He was playing in a band called THE STAND On 2nd avenue in Bethlehem. He wrote down a bunch of stuff for me in a notebook which I misplaced and tore the place apart looking for it. One of the nicest down to earth rockers on the planet. Thank you Jesse. He also transcribed Clapton unplugged the Blue book. Great stuff. At the time he had an old Fender with stickers all over the case. He would tune a full step down and set his whammy bar all the way down so it literally scraped on the body. he would bend a note then grab the whammy bar and pull it up instead of dive bombing. First person I ever saw do it. And he would just show you whatever you wanted to see. KOOL DUDE
Thanks for sharing this story... I can't imagine how great the lessons with Jesse were! I can tell you, of all the articles I've read on guitar playing, his were always among very best. Somehow he just imparts the right information, in a totally relevant way. Without a doubt he was razor sharp, when writing for Guitar Player! Did you ever find that missing notebook with his teaching notes?
@@Mindboggle100 No sir, I never did locate it. And now that Jesse is a bona fide rockstar I would reeeally like to have it back. He heard me out front in the music store playing Becks Star Cycle and was in the back giving a lesson. He came out and payed me a very nice complement. He was a genuine, very gracious guy.He had written down the major blues scale and circled the root notes for me. He started a jam and asked me to solo over it. He saw I was week in my scales and wrote that for me. He said if I can play star cycle he couldnt teach me to play but could help with my playing by learning some scales. Which I promptly did. I looked around the net just to see if I could find some articles about him or written by him. And was heartbroken to find out Jesse is very sick. They have a go fund me page on the net. If you can , please donate. The clip said he is living in NY with his wife. I believe she was a part of Todd Rundgruns Scheduling or P&R or something to that effect. If life will allow say a prayer for Jesse, he is as passionate about life and music and his guitar as anyone Ive ever had the pleasure of knowing. Take care Bro
@@wanderdworld Thanks for the reply, and the news... Sorry to read Jesse is ill! Yes I will try and donate, just need to do some research on how & his illness etc. Maybe I can help him a little, its a coincidence having just picked up my guitar again after damaging my arms for over a year! Reading your story, it does seem to sum up Jesse, from what I can gleen from RUclips and other people's accounts of him. Of course, his own teaching articles is my only personal experience of him. He has a very effective way of teaching... I do have one suggestion for you, he wrote a book called the "Guitar Cookbook", which is very highly acclaimed. You can read reviews online, and I plan to buy it myself while its still available. Trust me, this will be a very useful book, Jesse definitely put "himself" into it, from what I gather. Sorry you never found that notebook he wrote up for you... you know it seems just about every serious player, has some anecdote on a major regret regarding something they lost , sold or someone they met in the guitar line! Well thanks for the information & good luck with your playing. Check out that book & if you hear anything you want to share, hit me up. Now going to try & donate to Jesse's health cause. Regards :-)
Fly high Jesse.
18:30, 23 May 2019, just 1 hour before Todd Rundgren's live in Tokyo Jesse was strolling along the street in front of the concert venue. When I found him I timidly said "Excuse me" and asked shake hands because I thought I luckily ran into Todd! Then Jesse kindly let me know my misunderstanding and hold my hand with great smile. I instantly became a big fan of him. He is a real gentleman. Of course I enjoyed his fantastic guitar play in the Todd's show. Thank you Jesse!
RIP Jesse
Excellent interview with Jesse Gress. Being only 7 yrs into guitar, it is always interesting at my level to see and hear how someone like Gress progressed and how he views playing the guitar, what / who inspired him, and just the tidbits of information pro's like Gress can offer to younger players such as myself. Thanks
Love Jessie
Tough one
WONDERFUL...Thanks, Jesse Rocks!
Differentiated teacher, a good musician, fantastic transcriber, almost perfect I would say, since on guitar countless times there is no perfect transcription, especially when it comes to the universe Beatles, Hendrix, Beck, Page, May among others, a lot is learned from his lessons , the video content here is already an excellent sample.
Very cool :) *Peace*!
man he looks like Todd as well. See em twice! :)
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