Avi Bortnick is an American guitarist who became more widely known after his association with jazz guitarist

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in the ...

. Bortnick joined Scofield's jam-oriented band in 2000 and played rhythm guitar and samples on three albums: ''

Überjam ''Überjam'' is an album by jazz guitarist John Scofield which was released by Verve on January 29, 2002. Track listing Personnel *John Scofield – electric guitar *Karl Denson – flute, saxophone *John Medeski – B3 organ, clavinet, mello ...

'', '' Up All Night,'' and ''

Überjam Deux ''Überjam Deux'' is a studio album by American jazz guitarist John Scofield. The record features guitarist and co-producer Avi Bortnick, bass guitarist Andy Hess, drummers Adam Deitch and Louis Cato, and John Medeski on organ, electric piano & ...

''.

Biography

Born in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, Bortnick was raised in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, where he was immersed in the sounds of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

, rock, and soul. After moving to California, he began to play with

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

bands. As a graduate student at the University of Florida in Gainesville, he started the band What It Is, which became popular in the southeast touring circuit. Bortnick became known as a strong

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

player and came to John Scofield's attention when assembling a band for his album ''Bump''. A five-month tour extended to four-and-a-half years. In 2003, Bortnick released his first solo album, ''Clean Slate''. Bortnick has played with the Avi B Three, Shitty Shitty Jam Band (with members of The Brazilian Girls), Rene Lopez, Jihae, Erik Deutsch, and Betty Black and the

Ghost Train Orchestra Ghost Train Orchestra is a Brooklyn-based jazz and chamber ensemble led by Boston-based musician Brian Carpenter. The band formed in 2006 when an historic theater in Boston commissioned Carpenter as musical director for its 90th year celebration ...

Discography

As sideman

With Jihae * ''Elvis Is Still Alive'' (Septem, 2008) * ''Fire Burning Rain'' (Septem, 2010) * ''Illusion of You'' (Septem, 2015) With

* '' Uberjam'' (Verve, 2002) * '' Up All Night'' (Verve, 2003) * '' Uberjam Deux'' (Verve, 2013) With others *

, ''Book of Rhapsodies'' (Accurate, 2013) * Ghost Train Orchestra, ''Book of Rhapsodies Vol. II'' (Accurate, 2017) * Rene Lopez, ''Let's Be Strangers Again'' (Liberation, 2013)

References

Ableton Live users Living people American jazz guitarists Israeli emigrants to the United States American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Ghost Train Orchestra members Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-jazz-guitarist-stub