Jazz Guitar Today Spotlight: Jan Knutson
JGT contributor Joe Barth talks to acclaimed guitarist and composer in the Washington DC area, Jan Knutson.
Watching Frank Vignola’s Guitar Night at Birdland, I saw this young Jan Knutson, who was swinging really hard and playing very inventive lines. Jan is an acclaimed guitarist and composer in the Washington DC area.  I thought that I needed to become more acquainted with his music.
JB: What inspired you to play jazz guitar?
JK: While I’ve always been self-motivated to learn more about jazz guitar, I’ve also been fortunate to have people around me to give me that extra push to go deeper with it. My first guitar teacher, Frank Latino, introduced me to Django Reinhardt when I was 12 and obsessed with rock guitar. This inspired me to consider a musical language distinct from the music I had been listening to, but one I could incorporate into it. I was also enamored with the idea of playing unaccompanied guitar, and guys like Ted Greene, Joe Pass, and Martin Taylor did it so well that it made guitar feel like a world unto itself. As I got more into jazz, I began to love players like Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Barney Kessel, and Jim Hall. The list goes on and on.
My luck with mentors continued through my high school years. At age 14, I met Frank Vignola at a guitar master class, and later that night at his concert, he was so kind to invite me on stage to play a couple of tunes. He introduced me to so many great tunes and really got me to focus on my fundamentals while immersing myself in the jazz lexicon.
JB: You studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Maryland. What did you appreciate most about that era of your development?
JK: I studied with Rodney Jones at Manhattan School of Music, and it was a great experience because he was honest while also understanding the humanity and soul involved in making this music. He listened intently to everything I did and consistently challenged me to stay true to myself and humble. I was surrounded by incredible musicians at MSM, a few of whom I get to play with to this day in the Army Blues! My peers pushed me beyond the language of guitar and introduced me to musical concepts and great artists (on all sorts of instruments) I wouldn’t have explored on my own. The only reason I left MSM was to start my career with the Army Band; I would have loved to stay longer. However, I did finish my studies at the University of Maryland, where I studied with Gerry Kunkel, a fantastic guitarist who had me explore classical guitar technique and how to combine it with what I had already developed. This opened up even more possibilities, which I think helped a lot as I worked on my original solo guitar pieces.
JB: To you, in shaping your sound and approach, what are three of the most influential jazz guitar albums and why?
JK: Gladwell by Julian Lage was very, very formative for me. This album shows just how relevant jazz guitar can be to modern music. Julian’s playing really pushed me to find my sonic identity, compositional practices, and timbre. All his songs are so evocative and colorful; they truly inspired me to write my own original works. Moreover, the interesting use of hand percussion, cello and accordion showcased the varied instruments that could help bring his vision to life.
Smokin at the Half Note by Wes Montgomery is, to me, an example of a perfect jazz guitar record. It is a live recording that accentuates the realities and quirks of playing guitar as a soloist and as part of a rhythm section. It is my ideal representation of the guitar’s capabilities across genres, and it also offers practical ways for a guitarist to play in tandem with piano, which can be challenging. Oftentimes, it’s best for piano and guitar to trade off, but there are so many really beautiful moments where Wes complements and elevates Wynton Kelly as an accompanist and vice versa.
Peter Bernstein Guitar: Live at Smalls – This is an album that opened my eyes to what guitar can do harmonically and rhythmically. It’s so angular, and he plays solo guitar predominantly with just a pick. Until hearing this album I was used to solo players who used finger style or hybrid picking. Shawn Purcell once described this album to me as if Thelonious Monk made a solo guitar album. I totally see where he’s coming from. Bernstein’s approach made me think outside the box and consider ways to make tunes sound eccentric and fresh while still maintaining their core identity.
JB: Talk about your experiences of playing with the Army Strings and Blues Jazz Band.
The first thing I can say is that I am such a big fan of every musician in these ensembles, and that I learn something every day from playing with them. Playing professionally in a big band like the Army Blues is not an experience a lot of guitar players get to have these days, and there’s a lot to consider. You have to be able to read very well, and you have to know when to stay out of the way and when to be there to reliably support when the music drastically changes timbre and dynamic.
An even more rare experience than playing with a big band is writing and playing for a full strings ensemble. I am so grateful that I got to do this very early in my career with the Army Strings.
JB: What do you find most rewarding and challenging about playing solo guitar?
JK: I love being completely self-sufficient as a musician. I love the freedom that comes with it, because no matter how good or kind musicians are, sometimes you have to put in a lot of extra effort to explain things from an arranging or performing standpoint to them. As a soloist, I get to mess with form and style all the time to my heart’s content without having to notate it. I am not the most organized person, so this tends to suit me well.
Obviously, playing solo guitar comes with many challenges. One is keeping time consistently without a rhythm section. This took a lot of disciplined metronome practice and listening back for me to develop. Another is being able to suggest more parts or textures going on than are actually there. It is not always very musical to play every part verbatim at the same time, and even guitarists like Tommy Emmanuel or Martin Taylor will let go of certain accompaniment information to make a melody shine. One of my great solo performer inspirations is Bobby McFerrin. He suggests so much orchestration with just his own solo voice, yet it’s always engaging to listen to. I try to live that concept every time I play by myself. There’s always a lot to be said for space and silence too. Another challenge is the endurance aspect. It’s not always super healthy to play solo guitar for sometimes four hours on end, and you have to be able to give yourself breaks in some way. Sometimes that has to be in the form of playing less. The melody is the most important part, always.
JB: I understand that your dad, Jeff Knutson, builds your guitars. What do you appreciate most about the guitars that you use?
JK: My dad is first and foremost a musician, a wonderful trombonist, who played with the U.S. Navy band for 29 years. He started building guitars very shortly after I took an interest in playing them. We both got a chance to learn together about guitars as instruments and works of art. To date, he’s built over 20 instruments, and I play them all, working together with my dad to personalize the sound I want as well as maximize their functionality. Through watching him build them and figuring out what makes them sound and play the way they do, I learned a lot about guitar setup, but beyond that, I feel like I get to hold a very tangible piece of true love every time I play them, and I can never get that from anybody else’s guitars.
JB: Washington DC is a town with a number of good guitarists. So what’s the best piece of advice you’d give younger guitarists for building a career in music?
JK: Understand, to the best of your ability, how you actually sound. That means playing with other musicians, recording yourself, and studying the music you love. Take the time to meet the musicians and learn from people that inspire you to live your life. This will truly impact the music you create. Don’t be scared to put yourself in situations that feel uncomfortable. Embrace those opportunities and find a way to make the best of it. You don’t need to be anyone else but the best version of yourself.
