Jack Vees

FISEA1993

Jack Vees (USA, 1955). Vees’ early musical training was in piano and tuba, but he soon switched to the electric bass guitar, an instrument on which he has shown to have a unique voice on the world stage. His book, “The Book on Bass Harmonics” (Alfred Mus, 1981) became a standard reference work for bassists around the world, and cemented his reputation as an imaginative performer. He began studying composition under Joel Thome at Glassboro College in the early 1970s. He received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1986, where he studied composition with Louis Andriessen, Vinko Globokar , and Morton Subotnick. Early on his works for both acoustic and electronic instruments, including multiple electric guitars gained international attention. His performances on some of the earliest Bang On a Can festivals were further evidence of his groundbreaking works. Vees is the co-founder of Yale University’s Center for Studies in Music Technology (CSMT) at the Yale School of Music, where he has taught since 1986, shortly after his graduation from CalArts. He has a particularly distinctive and personal musical style that is instantly recognizable. His music unselfconsciously combines rigorous formal thinking with the raw energy of rock, along with an irreverent, acerbic wit, which is often displayed in his installation pieces.