Jennifer Batten

Michael Jackson’s Guitar Player. Jennifer Batten was Michael Jackson’s solo guitarists in the 90′s and completed 3 world tours with him and his incredibly skilled band. Being chosen to play in Michael’s band says a lot, simply because he insisted on perfection in his music and had an incredible work ethic and drive to get the music sound just the way he wanted. Jennifer was chosen out of a group of 100 guitarists for Michael’s “Bad” tour in 1987 and went on to do the “Dangerous” tour and “HIStory” in the 90′s. She also played with him during his Super Bowl half time performance with was viewed by billions of people all over the globe. Jackson changed Batten’s look and gave her that trademark crazy blond hair that is so recognizable now, although she doesn’t wear her hair that way anymore. But, hey, it was the ’80′s and big hair was the thing back then.

After her stint with Jackson, she jumped on a solo career and put out an album called “Above, Below and Beyond”. She also played guitar on numerous hit songs in the late ’09′s and went on to tour for 3 years with Jeff Beck.

Jennifer Batten has a very eclectic playing style and lately has been experimenting with technology and multi-media to enhance her playing. She uses a multitude of Digitech equipment to get a bucket load of effects into her songs. You will see her do a lot of finger tapping which gives her that incredible speed while maintaining a clean sound. So many guitarists who play speed guitar can only do so with a ton of distortion which hides your mistakes,  but Jennifer has perfected her tapping technique to the point where she blasts through a pentatonic arpeggio scale and record speed without missing a note. She doesn’t just play guitar, but she knows music theory inside and out and can apply her knowledge to her musical creations. I you ever get a chance to listen or see her live, don’t pass it up. She one of the best electric guitar players around, male or female.

That’s my opinion. What do you think?

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