Jeff Gutman
Radio Appearances
Jeff released his first album “The Mindfire Tapes” in the Fall of 1999. The album was a collection ofexperimental songs and sound collages. The album went into second pressing after six months, and Jeff embarked on a tour of the Pacific Northwest. Songs from this album were featured on KUSF in the summer of 2000.
In the fall of 2000, Jeff recorded the controversial “Hellfire Vampire.” The album was totally different from the first in that all of the songs were performed live with no overdubs. The instrumentation was sparse, with only an acoustic guitar and vocals. However, the songs were far from folk material. They were more raw and aggressive than the first album with some shocking subject matter.
In the Spring of 2001, Jeff formed a full group to better accentuate the compositions he was writing. Full of energy and intensity, the Jeff Gutman Band toured the west coast before recording an album in the fall of 2001. The album, “Cold Cold Town”, was tightly produced by Mark Love at Polk Street Studios and released in the summer of 2002. The album was a straight forward rock album filled with complex chord structures and intense rythmns. The songs focus on stories of survival in the city during recent economic decline. The group toured through the summer of 2002, with media coverage from local television and newspapers.
In the Fall of 2003, the song “You Were On Your Way” was featured on a benefit CD compilation for the AIDS Walk Organization. The album, “Sounds for Hope Vol.1” was designed to feature top acts from the Bay Area. The entire proceeds went towards funding AIDS research and education.
In early 2005, Jeff started recording his fourth album "No Way Back." The album was complex and densely layered, combing multiple genres into each song. Jeff spent many hundreds of hours by himself laying down each track seperately, starting with multiple guitars, pianos, bass and drums and expanding the songs to include a full orchestra and four part vocal harmonies. After two years of work, the album was finally finished and released in December of 2006. Songs from this album were used in independent films and featured on KLLC Alice-97.3 FM in San Francisco.
Jeff first started writing the album “Through the Night” in the summer of 2006. He had a series of music themes and melodies, most of which had come to him in dreams. After he experienced a series of dark and dramatic turn of events in his life, he became very inspired to write words for these songs, finishing them at the pace of one a day. For “Through the Night,” Jeff set about writing songs that spoke honestly about traumatic events in his life. Rather than dwelling on the more negative aspects solely, he wanted to make an album where the songs when taken together would give a more complete picture showing the highs and lows of an emotional journey. The songs would be extremely varied stylistically, taking elements of power pop, acoustic rock and multi-sectional suites alongside with quiet confessional piano songs with full string arrangements. He set about recording the album in March of 2008, layering the songs one instrument at a time. After a series of intensive mixing sessions, the album was ready for release in the summer of 2010. Jeff embarked on a series of acoustic concerts throughout the Bay Area in 2011 and 2012.
Jeff Gutman is a local songwriter from San Francisco. For the last several years, he has been performing headlining shows at dozens of clubs all over the west coast. Jeff’s songs are powerful statements with memorable stories and melodies. He is proficient at piano, guitar, bass, drums, vocals, as well as symphonic composition and music production.
Through the Night Album Reviews
Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange
Review by Frank Gutch Jr. "...what Through the Night comes down to is Jeff Gutman writes damn good songs."
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Strutter Magazine
"Done remarkably well and fans of this kind of music will instantly fall in love with this beautiful record"
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Indie Music Review
"If there is one thing that San Francisco consistently produces, it's great indie songwriters, and Jeff Gutman is certainly no exception."
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Dagger Zine
Review by Tim Hinley "...a superb batch of 13 emotional pop cuts."
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Folk and Acoustic Music Exchange Review by Frank Gutch Jr.
"For one thing, the album is pieced together so well you easily see the madness as the music unfolds."
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Ink 19
"Gutman delicately weaves stories of regret,remorse and sorrow, guiding you through an emotive journey"
Music Morsels
Review by Mark Waterbury
"With a haunting emotive voice and lyrics that are intelligent but also to the point, Jeff has that little something extra that fans of singer/songwriters hunger for."
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Music-Reviewer.com
Review: 8 out of 10"...exquisitely composed and executed by Gutman..."
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Cold Cold Town Album Reviews
Agouti Music
Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
"Gutman breaks loose with some solid tunes and catches a few haunting pictures of this weird, weird world on Cold, Cold Town."
Press Coverage
Review for J3 "Summer Vacation" and "Chemistry" music videos, 2011
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Sunset Beacon Article, San Francisco September 2002
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Biography
Reviews
Jeff Gutman © 2013