The big players at that time were George Benson and Al DiMeola. And, except for one, we were all into jazz. “There were 60 guitarists at GIT when I was there.

“It was a long way from Jimi Hendrix,” Batten said, citing one of her early guitar heroes. He tutored her in playing major and minor scales, and had her learn to play sax solos by Charlie Parker on guitar. When Batten failed her first audition to enroll at GIT, she spent six months of intense practice with San Diego’s Peter Sprague, who helped bring her jazz chops up to par. “ His first concert was Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps.” “Jeff put his head down, and whispered to me not to tell anybody that was my first concert!” she said with a laugh.

This both amused and alarmed Jeff Beck when he found out years later. The first concert Batten attended as a kid in San Diego was by Sonny & Cher. “I never played in a band until after I graduated from GIT, when I was 21, because my mother wouldn’t let me go out and play with strangers.” “My dad taught me my first song on guitar, ‘Forest Flower,’ by (jazz saxophonist) Charles Lloyd,” she said. It has rarely been out of her hands since. television debut in 1964 - and jealous that her older sister had a guitar - she began playing the instrument when she was 8. Because I don’t know any magical way to make things happen, other than engrossing yourself in what you’re passionate about.” Giant stepsĪ New York native, Batten moved with her family to San Diego in 1969. “That advice might be complete bull! But that’s what I tell people. “Basically, when young guitarists ask me for advice, I just say: ‘Keep your nose to the grindstone, work on your music, and the career will take care of itself’,” said Batten, 58, who used to practice her instrument up to 10 hours a day. Her credits also include three solo albums, two instructional guitar books and three instructional DVDs for, including “50 Ultra-Intervallic Licks,” which explores an array of tonalities, including the Aeolian, Dorian and Mixolydian modes. She has since been featured on albums by such varied artists as Jackson, Beck, former “Jesus Christ Superstar” Broadway vocal star Carl Anderson and Latin techno producer Emilio Fernandez. Rock, pop, blues, jazz, funk no matter the style, her range and command were unmistakable. And anyone with ears had to concede Jennifer was simply a great guitar player, with tremendous musicality and dexterity.”īatten’s skill and versatility were evident here as far back as the early 1980s, when she was the guitarist in the popular San Diego club band Purl. “Those prejudices still exist, of course, but I do think things have improved with time. “She was undoubtedly trailblazing during a time when a woman guitarist had to contend with great quantities of small-minded prejudices,” said Keneally, who rose to prominence as Frank Zappa’s “stunt guitarist” in the 1980s. San Diego’s Mike Keneally, now on tour as a member of Satriani’s band, is also quick to sing Batten’s praises.

“She has been at the forefront of what you can do with a guitar.” “What a tremendous player Jennifer is,” said veteran guitar star Joe Satriani. She subsequently became the first woman to teach at GIT, which has attracted some of the world’s top six-string artists, both as students and instructors. In 1979, she became the first woman to graduate from Los Angeles’ Guitar Institute of Technology, where she won two awards. Where: Ramona Mainstage, 626 Main St., Ramona Uli Jon Roth, Jennifer Batten and Andy Timmons, with Taz Taylor and The Nili Brosh Band

Eddie van halen on two and a half men