Jerebine, Doug / Is Jesse Harper

Drag City

Who is Jesse Harper? DOUG JEREBINE is Jesse Harper. And who is Doug Jerebine? Born on New Zealand’s North Island in rural Tangowahine, he cut his teeth on guitar from the age of 12, instructed first by a half-Maori, half-Greek guitarist who introduced him to everything from George Van Eps to Hank Marvin. Then one day, he found Doug teaching him. Even when he was only in high school, Doug was ready to play out. Throughout the early 1960s, he was hopping around in Auckland bands, including THE EMBERS and THE BREW. At the same time, Doug dove deeply into the virtuosic sitar sounds of Vilayat Kahn and Ravi Shankar, learning to play that instrument as well. This interest spurred his spiritual beliefs, and Doug eventually decided his true path (at least at that time) was with ‘Krishna conciousness.’ While on the road to India, however, he stopped in England to see if he could make something big happen musically. There he fell in with another London-based Kiwi-transplant, aspiring impresario Dave Hartstone, who in 1969 encouraged Doug while he recorded what would be known as the Jesse Harper record. Doug played and sang all parts but the drums, and the results were spectacular on all fronts. The late 1960s were ripe with altered senses, and sensory induced—and inducing guitar heroes taking their instruments to newfound sonic freedom. Is Jesse Harper is a perfectly realized testament from that era, a record that bubbles psychedelically with shuffling beats and active bass, ultimately defined by a fuzzy haze of dripping guitar leads backdropped against strident and arpeggiated riffs, chords, and slabs of rhythm. Cohesively intertwined with spiritual perspectives and memorable choruses, Is Jesse Harper’s songs reach that universal plane so often sought after but rarely discovered on record. (STREET DATE - 1/31/2012)

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