Today, Acoustic Nation presents the exclusive premiere of "Switchback," a jamming new performance video by Jesse Cook.
“On March 11, the tour bus pulled up in Rockport, Massachusetts, and we discovered how crazy beautiful the theater [Shalin Liu Performance Center] was," Cook says.
"Before the crew loaded in the band's gear, I set up my camera and a zoom recorder, and Nic [Nicolas Hernadez] and I recorded this jam. This is based loosely on a song I wrote long ago called ‘Switchback.’ Nic learned it as I was setting up, and we recorded this in a few takes.
“Rockport was one of the smaller towns of the northeastern swing of this year's U.S. tour. So far, the tour has been pretty exciting, as my career seems to have turned a corner. Mostly sold out shows in nice theaters. Theaters that only years ago we wouldn't have dreamed of playing, many in cities we have never played before. After 20 years of touring in this country I might finally be able to quit my day job.”
Cook's latest album, 2015's One World, debuted at Number 1 on the jazz and world music charts in his native Canada and at Number 7 on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart and Number 4 on Billboard's World Albums chart.
“On this record, it’s not really about going someplace,” Cook says. “The idea is that there really is just one world. If you pull your focus back far enough, you start to see all music as being branches of the same tree. They’re all connected to the same trunk from way back.”
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
