Gene Ess

Gene Ess is a Japanese-American jazz guitarist. He was a member of the Rashied Ali Quintet, working with Ravi Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Lonnie Plaxico, and Reggie Workman.

Career Ess was born Gene Shimosato in Tokyo, Japan, and raised in Okinawa on an American military base. In his early teens, he was a performing musician in Okinawa. He studied classical music at George Mason University, then attended Berklee College of Music,

Ess moved to New York City and became a member of a band led by Rashied Ali. He toured with Ali and recorded on his album No One in Particular. While in this group, he played with Ravi Coltrane, Eddie Henderson, Carlos Santana, Archie Shepp, and Reggie Workman

Ess's album Modes of Limited Transcendence (2009) received the 2010 SESAC Outstanding Jazz Performance Award.

Discography

As leader Sunrise Falling (Amp, 2003) Sandbox and Sanctum (Simp, 2005) Modes of Limited Transcendence (Simp, 2008) A Thousand Summers (Simp, 2012) Fractal Attraction (Simp, 2013) Eternal Monomyth (Simp, 2015) Absurdist Theater (Simp, 2016) Apotheosis (Simp, 2018) Ah-Bop (Simp, 2022)

As sideman One World Tribe, Prayer for September (Paddle Wheel, 1995) Rashied Ali, No One in Particular (Survival, 2001)