But she’d rather bring soul and feeling to her guitar work. And she does, on Division World, her latest album of genre-splicing creations.
BY ANDREW DALY PHOTOGRAPHY BY LINDA HEATH
IN THE WORLD OF Jane Getter — a player who can outright shred but hates the notion — “redundancy” is a dirty word. For Getter, there’s no fun in being a retread, nor does she care what’s worked for her in the past, only what works for her now.
The trick is that she’s guided by a muse that instinctually runs the gamut of styles. But if you were to ask Getter, she’d tell you her music is best classified as prog-rock, even though she disdains genre associations. “My taste in music is very eclectic, so my writing and playing reflects that,” she tells Guitar Player. “My approach to combining those elements is organic. It’s what I hear, and hopefully I’ll execute it well.”
And that brings us to the Jane Getter Premonition’s Division World (Cherry Red), an aptly titled album, as Getter wrote it amid chaos inherent in a dissected global climate. “A lot of the songs are about conflict,” she says of the record, which includes guest performances by guitarists Alex Skolnik and Vernon Reid as well as former Frank Zappa drummer Chad Wackerman and her husband, Miles Davis/Steven Wilson keyboardist Adam Holzman. “The divisiveness and political narcissism in the world bother me, and songwriting is the way I express that.”
Getter refers to Division World as her “strongest album,” and considering that songs like “The Spark,” “Compass,” “Division World,” “Devolution” and “End the Blame,” showcase her multi-genre approach, that seems fair. Still, she refuses to say she’s found stylistic comfort, let alone a logical stopping point.
“Oh, I could never do that,” she says. “But I wouldn’t be here without what I did before. I’ll never be able to answer the question of where my style is,” she admits. “The aspects of my playing are in everything, from open voicings to the heavy distorted riffs. I’m all those things, and more.”
You started out playing piano but ended up playing guitar. How did that happen?
I was given piano lessons as a young girl, and my sister was given guitar lessons, but I would always spy on her, wishing I was taking guitar lessons. My parents finally gave in and gave them to me. I’ve always been drawn to the guitar. It continues to b
