Bill Brown Ford presents Jazz at the House.

Jake Reichbart is an instrumental guitarist whose repertoire draws from all forms of popular music from the past 100+ years, consisting of thousands of tunes. He delights audiences by improvising countless tune requests on the spot. Depending on the situation, he is able to keep the performance strictly to music or offer, in between tunes, detailed information about the music, its history, the instrument and playing techniques, as well as humorous anecdotes and stories from his travels. To get a sense of his vast repertoire, one can sample nearly 1,000 solo guitar performances on his YouTube channel where he has more than 43,000 subscribers, worldwide. As of October 2022, Jake has achieved a remarkable feat, reaching the 30th anniversary of performing weekly, Tuesday through Thursday, at the famed The Earle restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

He is also a “guitarist’s guitarist“ having composed four DVD/book packages for Hal Leonard, the largest instructional music publishing company in the world. New for 2022, he has been signed to TruFire, the premiere online guitar learning website, where other instructors are some of the greatest guitarists currently in the world, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Vai, Frank Vignola, Martin Taylor and others. He has offered clinics and master classes locally, for the University of Michigan‘s jazz department, Bowling Green and Oakland Universities and for Berklee affiliate schools in France and Israel. Jake’s ability on the instrument has been compared to three of the greatest masters of the instrument, Joe Pass – in terms of his mastery of intricate jazz harmony, to Tuck Andress – master interpreter of pop music for solo guitar as well as the great Tommy Emmanuel – in terms of fingerstyle technique. Indeed, Jake Reichbart has been featured on the cover of Just Jazz Guitar magazine alongside the great George Benson, as well as being a featured artist in Fingerstyle 360 magazine.

Jake Reichbart has developed his vast repertoire over 35 years of performing experience and for 20 years, he has been featured in the Michigan Arts and Humanities Council touring guide. He has performed countless community concerts at libraries, public schools, town halls, festivals and nearly every form of public venue imaginable.

Due to his vast repertoire, Jake Reichbart can strategically tailor his set list to any specific audience. In the past 5 years as he has entered the independent and assisting living markets, he has put together a program consisting the great hits from the 40s and 50s, including more jazz oriented material from the likes of Frank Sinatra as well as Americana and early rock & roll i.e. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly etc. When performing for younger audiences, he makes sure to include in his performances the most popular music from the 60’s to the present, ranging from The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, through Cindy Lauper, The Police and Whitney Huston, to current day Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran and others. When a performance calls for more in depth Jazz virtuosity, he will perform music by Chick Corea, John Coltrane, Allan Holdsworth and virtually all the jazz greats. One of the book/DVD packages Jake Reichbart has composed for Hal Leonard is solo guitar arrangements for Bossa Nova hits and as such can offer an evening of the music of AC Jobim, Gilberto Gil, Joao Gilberto, Jorge Ben and others. Likewise, he has authored for Hal Leonard a Christmas book/DVD and can offer related programs. Samples from all the above musical examples can be found on his YouTube channel.

He has been involved with the Gifts of Art program at the University of Michigan hospital for nearly 25 years. Carrie McClintock, coordinator, describes his ability with people: “Jake is also a pleasure to work with. He is a sensitive person with strong interpersonal skills. He is open to interacting with and discussing music both on and off the stage with players, organizers and audience members alike, all while maintaining healthy boundaries. These are extremely important skills in a performer, and I greatly appreciate his professionalism.”