JAN RIVERA
Jan Rivera is a Puerto Rican prog/jazz/fusion artist. He has been featured in exclusive releases by Guitar World (link), PROG magazine (link 1), (link 2),
Bass Magazine, and others.
Featuring bass guitar virtuoso Mohini Dey (Jordan Rudess, Jordan Richardson, AR Rahman), 'Fractional Lineage' is another enticing glimpse into the impressive sonic world Jan Rivera is building. Accompanied too by drumming legend Marco Minnemann (Steven Wilson, The Aristocrats), 'Fractional Lineage' is a prog rock tour de force.
Jan's debut album Existential Paranoia continues the theme - a superlative first offering from this new artist, accompanied by a host of musical stars. Alongside Marco Minnemann and Mohini Dey, the album also includes appearances from Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Gary Husband (John Mclaughlin, Allan Holdsworth), Nili Brosh (Danny Elfman), and Chad Wackerman (Frank Zappa) among others. Notably, Existential Paranoia includes the first instance of drumming legends Chad Wackerman and Marco Minnemann appearing on the same track - the album closer, 'The Grey Sticky Note'.
Jordan Rudess comments: “I get asked to do a lot of projects. I have to say that many of them are really good, but it's not very often that you find a unique compositional voice. When I first heard Jan Rivera's music, I was freaking out!”
Elements of Allan Holdsworth, Dream Theater, The Aristocrats, and Scott Henderson abound throughout Existential Paranoia, displaying a musical sensitivity and rhythmic guile which marks out this new voice as one to watch.
Mohini Dey comments: "When I first heard Jan's music, my reaction was surprised, shocked… Because I heard how challenging the material was, but also at the same time, how beautiful the writing was. The orchestration and how beautiful the parts were written. It felt like a story, it had meaning to it, every song had something to say…When I hear something that has never been done before, it automatically pushes me to do something better…"
Well-regarded as a music educator, Jan is a graduate of the revered Musicians Institute's Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles, where he studied under Alex Machacek, Greg Howe, and Scott Henderson, among others. His 2014 textbook 'Advanced Rhythmic Concepts for Guitar' was a bestseller, and received rave reviews globally. Jan is an on-set consultant and curriculum designer for Fender Guitars and has taught and performed with Guitar Workshop Plus, which commonly features guitarists such as Tosin Abasi, Paul Gilbert, and Andy McKee, among others.
