“JP is probably the most giving and humble musician I know. I’m actually surprised that he agreed to be featured in a news article since he shuns the spotlight like I shun mowing the lawn.”
~ Keyboardist Chuck Lichtenberger
Jonathan Pearlman (JP) grew up ”way down south” in Valdosta, GA hearing light jazz and pop music. His first musical icons were Elvis Presley and Bobby Darin, and he was performing for audiences at age seven and playing guitar at age nine. “The first outfits I played in were country bands and that’s how I got my first recording session when I was about 15. I opened for some famous country artists like Bill Anderson, Charlie Pride, Ferlin Husky, etc.”
Yet JP’s influences have been far-reaching, absorbing Lennon/McCartney, Hendrix, Clapton, and Motown during the 60’s. Jazz-fusion bands like Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report and Frank Zappa of the early 70’s were also influential. These all became JP’s earliest jazz-rock influences.
Jonathan continually wrote, sang and played in bands throughout his college years, and he graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Broadcasting in 1978. Fast forward the next 20 years or so and he’d become quite successful as a videographer and producer while also pursuing his music, plus recording albums and production music. During the 1990’s, JP began to win songwriting competitions and adopted the pseudonym Alien Music Club – essentially an on-going studio project. “The idea of Club came from my desire to incorporate the talents of other musicians and friends into the creative process. The Alien concept comes from the wildly eclectic nature of the music which defies categorization. It’s really a musical melting pot.” says JP.
His guitar heroes include George Harrison, Jeff Beck, John Scofield, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Pat Martino. JP had a major breakthrough in 2001 as he began to rediscover his musical roots. He started to study and transcribe jazz standards by Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, Chuck Mingus, John Coltrane and many others.
Jonathan’s local roots go way back to the 60’s when he attended summer camp in Hendersonville and played bluegrass and folk music in Asheville festivals. He finally realized his lifelong dream of moving to Asheville in the early 80’s and has never looked back! He feels fortunate to be in the midst of a musical Renaissance currently taking place here. His closest musical colleagues are pianist Chuck Lichtenberger and vocalist Stephanie Morgan, along with Zack Page (bass) and Tim Haney (drums). JP is also part of The Archrivals, Crybaby, and Stephaniesid.
“It’s all a great opportunity to meet and share musical ideas with some of the best players while at the same time mentoring young musicians new to jazz. I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to play with some of the finest musicians on the planet, and for them to consider my playing worthy! Chuck really instigated the AMC Jazz Jam. We’d been doing it at Tressa’s for several years as the Chuck Lichtenberger Collective, and the opportunity arose to move it to Barley’s each Thursday night at 9 p.m. It was Chuck’s idea to put it under my moniker. The motivation was to keep playing this amazing music we all love, keep our chops, keep learning, keep sharing, just to keep it going.”
Lichtenberger added, “JP and I have really connected over our love of combining rock and jazz.”
2012 has been a year of many milestones for JP. He took the stage in Atlanta with his son’s band The Shadowboxers in winter. He performed the first ever AMC Live Show in the summer. He then performed his original jazz compositions at The Altamont Theatre this past fall. “It was quite a humbling and fulfilling year!” Future music by JP and Alien Music Club will be more experimental and collaborative in nature, as the audience for his special brand of jazz-influenced fusion continues to expand.
“The one thing I love about JP’s material is how tastefully and subtly he pays tribute to artists that he’s loved over the years. He really covers a very wide range of styles, from jazz to 70’s rock, to zany progressive stuff and everything in between, and he can almost convince you to like a certain artist that you may have not liked before – without even knowing it! Plus he has the best tone of any guitarist I’ve ever played with!”
~ Drummer Tim Haney
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