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Santa Cruz Sentinel Some people never make up their minds. Take Wayne "Chojo" Jacques, for example. The fiddler and mandolin player performs with countless songwriters and bands, combines bluegrass, jazz, country, rock, folk and blues, and travels from country to country. Combining high-energy tunes with sophisticated music technique, Jacques and friends promise an evening of good-old Americana music laced with spontaneous improvisational tones at Moe’s Alley Wednesday. Americana music can be difficult to define, considering the country’s diverse cultural backgrounds. But rather than conform to one particular genre, Jacques and friends merge and twist styles together, uniting the regions in a deliciously energetic cornucopia. Jacques’ background is as diverse as his musical tastes. The part-Hawaiian, German-born musician lived in Texas and Montana before moving to the Santa Cruz Mountains. Rebelling from his classical viola and piano lessons at a young age, Jacques grew up playing guitar, earning his first gig at a truck stop bar in East Missoula, Montana. But realizing that he was one of a million guitar players, Jacques switched to fiddle and clicked bows with the Montana Fiddler’s Association. When he discovered fiddle playing alone could not quench his musical appetites, Jacques picked up the mandolin two years later while traveling with the Lost Highway Band. He was based in Austin, Texas, for eight years in the 70's, then Jacques began to record with several "new-grass" bands. After opening for mandolinist David Grisman in 1982, he decided to pack up his talent and move to the San Francisco Bay Area. The fiddler worked his way through several area bands before co-founding the Waybacks, a Celtic, bluegrass jazz band. But not one to settle down, Jacques continued to collaborate with Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Johnny Paycheck, Frank Wakefield, Michael Hedges, Hearts on Fire and several local bluegrass, zydeco, folk and rock bands. Recently, Jacques left the Waybacks and has begun to collaborate with Houston Jones, and others. |