Joe Fuentes

Joe Fuentes was born in Los Angeles, California in 1963 and at the age of 4 his parents decided to migrate to Mexico City, Mexico. He picked up his first guitar, a gift from his Mom, atthe age of 6 and it has been his faithful companion ever since. During his childhood, he was always exposed to a wide variety of music ranging from Rock to Tangos ("...Dad's would whistle songs by Carlos Gardel all day when I was growing up") and ofcourse Cuban music.

Then, influenced by his older sister Laura, he started listening to better quality pop music of the 70's such as Steve Wonder, Marvin Gay, Earth Wind and Fire, etc.

Although Joe now focuses his writting efforts to the "contemporary jazz" style, one can hear the evidence of such influences in his compositions and his playing.
"Joe Fuentes shows that he is a lyrical guitarist letting notes ring to fruition and phrasing as if he were singing the melody... with his subtle references to Miles Davis/Gil Evan's Sketches of Spain collaboration, [he] demonstrates his experienced technique" -- Jim Santella, All About Jazz.

His first release (May'97), the self-produced Acoustic Trio, was well received by the "Jazz Review" and by All About Jazz and in any given month he can be found playing in a trio setup in various clubs and restaurants in San Francisco where hes lived now for the last 5 or so years.

Embracing his POP infuenced childhood and combining it with his love for coffee and his affection for the Coffee Culture in The City, joe has produced A Good Cup of Joe. A contemporary Jazz CD scheduled for release under Instinct Records, the Label that brought you NAC artists such as GOTA, Brian Tarquin, Chris Standring and Nite Flight, sometime soon.

The first musical act he followed was - brace yourselves - TheJackson 5. He was a big Michael fan. Then, influenced by his older sister Laura, he started listening to better quality pop music of the 70's such as Steve Wonder, Marvin Gay, Earth Wind and Fire, etc... As he grew older, he started playing rock. His favorites were Queen, Deep Purple, and Led Zepelin. Joe was particularly interested in the guitar works of Brian May, always paying close attention to the orchestral qualities of his almost synthesizer-"sounding" electric guitar.

Being that his parents are Cuban, he was always exposed to some form of Latin music , be it "Cumbias" at his Dad's annual company parties, or "salsa" when any of the family friends would come to visit the house.

Then, he discovered Jazz. Again thanks to his sister who bought him his first jazz album: "CTI Jazz All Stars at the Hollywod Bowl". He heard George Benson playing 'California Dreaming' and was amazed. " I didn't know such sounds where possible from a guitar! I want to do that!!"

It was only natural that his music would attempt to bridge the gap between all these different types of music and his latin roots. He began to play Funk and Latin Rock (ala Santana) inflecting a little jazz on the funk grooves and on the Rock changes. He had discovered Fusion. He started composing and had his first concert at age15 consisting af all original Jazz oriented material.

Prompted by the warm reception of the audience, he decided to learn more about music. He attended the "Escuela Nacional the Musica" in Mexico City where he majored in music composition and received his classical training from Alejandro Salcedo, all while still attending high school. Upon graduating from high school, he decided to go to college but he chose Engineering as a major instead of his beloved music and after two less-than-satisfiying years of Engineering studies at the University of Mexico (Univesidad Autonoma de Mexico) he decided to migrate back to the States to pursue his musical dreams of becoming a Jazz guitarist.

By the time he was 20, Joe had already dabbled with the idea of synthesizers and their use in contemporary Jazz. Listening to Chick Corea with his Elektric Band became one of his favorite passtimes. He started getting into MIDI and MIDI-Guitars, and was completely fascinated by the Synth-Axe and considered getting one when he saw Alan Holdsworth using it ("He's a monster! such efficience of motion in his hands is unreal"). He was inspired to get into guitar-synths when he heard the now signature "trumpet"-like sound of Pat Metheny (Off-Ramp).

While living in Los Angeles, he played in several TOP 40 bands and Rock groups just to get some stage experience, and then formed an original Jazz trio, "Vital Crossing", in which he featured some pretty elegant guitar-synth work along with his "335" and played at the "Overland Cafe" Restaurant every Saturday for almost a year. "I wish I had made a good recording of that trio. That was a lot of fun".

Influenced by the more commercial Jazz sounds of Lee Ritenour and Bob James before they ever got together to play in Fourplay, he started composing in that style. He joined a Jazz Quartet called Elixir for a year.

"Life" sort of took him for a ride for a while and abandoned music as his main focus for a period of 16 to 18 months - "Way too long!" he'll tell you.

He reclaimed his passion for music and moved to San Francisco in 1993. He played some casuals and sporatic sub gigs in the South Of Market circuit (Eleven, Paradize Lounge, etc...). He is always involved in some studio work with local musicians. He is currently playing with his "Acoustic Trio" in some of the most popular clubs and restaurants in San Francisco.

He is currently active with a New Music Composition Club in which they compose "new" music for traditional orchestral instruments as well as explore the use of less familiar combinations of instrumentation. Joe is a skilled guitarist, composer, and MIDI musician making his way into the music industry. He is available for gigs, recording projects, scoring, and compositions services . In addition, Joe teaches Classical and Jazz guitar in the Bay Area.