Episode 16 with Avi Bortnick (John Scofield/Uberjam)

My guest today is Mr. Avi Bortnick. In a world filled with shredding guitar players who can play a gazillion notes and play over every chord change known to man, and teenage girls playing Van Halen's "Eruption", it’s refreshing to hear a player like Avi who can make a crowd groove with simple but effectively placed rhythm part. Although perhaps he is best known for being a member of John Scofield’s innovative Uberjam band, (in which he plays an important and crucial role- triggering samples, holding down rhythm parts and creating cool sounds), he also has his own bands- Shitty Shitty Jam Band and the Avi B. Three. Avi also has a unique take on guitar effects and is constantly working to create new sounds with loops and blending effects not found in your average guitar pedals as you'll hear in this episode. 

(We get didn’t talk about it in the interview but Avi has also designed apps for guitar and music including the Time Guru metronome and Echo Pitch multi-delay as well as others- that I will link to below.)

In this interview we talk about rhythm guitar, his early influences, working with John Scofield, how he creates those unique effects by combining the traditional guitar effects with the modern laptop sounds. We also jam over a few little impromptu chord vamps. 

This interview was recorded at Avi’s apt in Chinatown, NYC on Aug 16th, 2017.

Avi's Music

"Clean Slate"

LINKS to Avi's Apps-

Time Guru metronome 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-guru-metronome/id421929034?mt=8 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/time-guru-metronome-for-ipad/id1065287026?mt=8 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adambellard.timeguru&hl=en 

Echo Pitch multi-delay pitch shifter 

https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=1180443904&mt=8 

VoxBeat voice-to-drums+multi-track looper 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/voxbeat-beatbox+multi-track/id1009030008?mt=8