Jennifer Batten (born November 29, 1957) is an American guitarist who has worked as a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

and solo artist. From 1987 to 1997, she played on all three of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

's world tours, and from 1999 to 2001, she toured and recorded with

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

. Batten has released three studio albums: her 1992 debut, '' Above Below and Beyond'' (produced by former

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

guitarist Michael Sembello), the

worldbeat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural co ...

-influenced '' Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage: Momentum'' in 1997, and '' Whatever'', which was released on CD and DVD in Japan in 2007 and worldwide in 2008.

Early years

Batten began to play guitar at the age of eight when her father bought her a "killer red and blue electric". Her early influences were the Beatles,

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its li ...

, and Jeff Beck. Batten started to experiment with the two-handed

tapping Tapping is a playing technique that can be used on any stringed instrument, but which is most commonly used on guitar. The technique involves a string being fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion. This is in contrast to stand ...

technique in 1978, having been inspired by Guitar Institute of Technology classmate

Steve Lynch Steve Lynch (born January 18, 1955) is an American guitarist. He is best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the glam metal/hard rock band Autograph (American band), Autograph, which formed in 1983. He decided to commit himself to m ...

(who ended up playing for the band

Autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

) while attending the

Musicians Institute Musicians Institute (MI) is a private for-profit music school in Los Angeles, California. MI students can earn Certificates and – with transfer of coursework taken at Los Angeles City College – Associate of Arts Degrees, as well as Bachelor ...

Musical career

Batten has appeared on recordings such as

's '' Who Else!'' (1999) and '' You Had It Coming'' (2001), and Michael Sembello's ''Heavy Weather'' (1992). Her music video appearances include Jeff Beck ("Live in Japan"), Michael Jackson's "

Moonwalker ''Moonwalker'' is a 1988 American experimental film, experimental anthology film, anthology musical film starring Michael Jackson. Rather than featuring one continuous narrative, the film expresses the influence of fandom and innocence through ...

" ("

Come Together "Come Together" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song is the opening track on the band's 1969 studio album ''Abbey Road''. It was also a double A-side single in the U ...

"),

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...

(" Wild Women Do"),

Sara Hickman Sara Hickman (born March 1, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, and artist.Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University)Guide to the Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library ...

's "Take It Like a Man",

Miguel Mateos Miguel Ángel Mateos Sorrentino (born January 26, 1954) is an Argentine rock singer-songwriter from Villa Pueyrredón, Argentina. Outside Argentina he is considered one of the most important exponents of Rock en Español, specially in the 1980s ...

' "Obsesión", and

Jason Becker Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American composer and former guitarist. At the age of 16, he became part of the Shrapnel Records-produced duo Cacophony with his friend Marty Friedman, and they released two albums, '' Speed Metal Sy ...

's "Some Assembly Required". Batten played

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

and

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

on Michael Jackson's ''

Bad Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being *Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored trolley ...

'' (1987–1989), '' Dangerous'' (1992) and ''

HIStory History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

'' (1996–1997) world tours, and on his 1993 Super Bowl halftime performance, which was aired to over 1.3 billion people in 86 countries, the largest audience in television history for a live music performance. She was in Jeff Beck's touring band for three years starting in 1999 and appears on his albums ''Who Else!'' (1999) and ''You Had It Coming''. Between 1994 and 1999, Batten worked with

Dave Rodgers Dave Rodgers (born Giancarlo Pasquini; 21 February 1963) is an Italian singer, songwriter and producer known for his contributions to the Eurobeat genre of dance music. Born in Mantua, Italy, he formed the band Aleph before contributing to the l ...

and

Domino Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called '' pips'' or ''dots'' ...

as featured guitarist on the

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...

songs "Sun City", "Music For the People", "Fly" and "Woa Woa Woa." Her writing and performing is uncredited on several other songs under the A-Beat C label. Her live Eurobeat appearances were limited to playing at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

with Rodgers and Queen of Hearts. She appears on the 2004 album '' Spin the Bottle: An All-Star Tribute to Kiss'', with

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

and Samantha Maloney, performing "Shout It Out Loud". In 2010, she recorded a solo for the song "Bad Girls" by Polish singer Doda. She partnered on a melodic rock CD with vocalist Marc Scherer and producer

Jim Peterik James Michael Peterik ( ; born November 11, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and guitarist in The Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem "Eye of the Tige ...

(formerly of

Survivor Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

) which was released in September 2017, entitled ''BattleZone''. All songs were written or co-written by Peterik. Special guests included saxophonist

Mindi Abair Mindi Abair ( ; born May 23, 1969) is an American saxophonist, vocalist, author.. Her solo career has produced ten No. 1 radio singles, two No. 1 Billboard Jazz CDs, and four more solo CDs that have landed No. 5 and above on the ''Billboard'' Co ...

and

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

vocalist Bill Champlain. The song "Space and Time" was co-written with

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Although he was left-handed, he was known for his skilled right-handed bass playing as well as his booming baritone voice. He was a member ...

, and "All Roads" was co-written with

Sammy Hagar Sam Roy Hagar (born October 13, 1947), also known as the Red Rocker, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s with the hard rock band Montrose before launching a ...

. Batten made videos for all songs on her YouTube channel.

Other work

Batten has written two music books: ''Two Hand Rock'' (published by Hal Leonard) and ''The Transcribed Guitar Solos of Peter Sprague'' (self-published). She also has three DVD/download courses available from TrueFire: ''Rock Sauce for Lead Guitar'', ''Rock Sauce for Rhythm Guitar'', and ''50 Ultra Intervallic Guitar Licks You Must Know''. In 2019, Batten worked with Rodrigo Teaser for a tribute to Michael Jackson ten years after his death, titled ''10 years without Michael Jackson''. For this show, Batten was joined LaVelle Smith Jr., who was Jackson's choreographer and dancer for more than 20 years. Since 2021, Batten is part of many of the shows in the world tour of a Michael Jackson musical called "This is Michael" with live performances in Europe and Latin America.

Awards and recognition

In November 2011, Batten was featured on BBC Radio 4's series ''Joan Armatrading's More Guitar Favourites''. Her work was given the "She Rocks Icon Award" in January 2016.

Personal life

Batten enjoys creating stained and fused glass art, and

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

art.

Discography

Solo albums

*1992: '' Above Below and Beyond'' *1997: '' Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage: Momentum'' *2007: '' Whatever''

Guest appearances

*1990: ''Shortstop'' – Sara Hickman (Elektra) *1990: ''Girl's Life'' – The Rainbow Girls (Red Distribution) *1990: ''Obsesion'' – Miguel Mateos (Sony BMG) *1991: ''Small Town Girl'' – Cindy Cruse (Frontline Records) *1992: ''Heavy Weather'' – Michael Sembello (Polydor) *1993: ''Guitar's Practicing Musicians'' – various artists (Guitar Recordings) *1994: ''Sunlight Again'' – Carl Anderson (GRP Records) *1995: ''Earthtones'' – Thom Teresi (Rhombus) *1995: ''Guitar Zeus'' –

Carmine Appice Carmine Appice ( ; born December 15, 1946) is an American rock drummer. He is best known for his associations with Vanilla Fudge; Cactus; the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice; Rod Stewart; King Kobra; and Blue Murder. He is the older brother ...

(No Bull Records) *1995: ''The Immigrants - One Planet Under One Groove'' (USG/ZYX) *1997: ''Einstein Was a Bullfighter'' – Doc Tahri (Sumething Else) *1999: '' Who Else!'' –

(Epic) *2001: '' You Had It Coming'', Jeff Beck, (Epic) *2003: ''Lost Years'' – Michael Sembello (Frontiers Records) *2005: ''All Star Tribute to Cher'' (Cleopatra) *2004: '' Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour'' *2005: ''Secondhand Smoke - A Tribute to Frank Marino'' (Wildmess Records) *2008: ''Clean'' – Dave Martone (Magna Carta) *2009: ''Unexpected Fate'' –

Bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large tractor equipped with a metal #Blade, blade at the front for pushing material (soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock) during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous tracks, ...

(Scarlet) *2010: ''It's Important'' – Dino Fiorenza (Fog Foundation) *2011: ''Glenn Eric'' – Glenn Eric Meganck (Beachfront) *2011: ''Japan Live 1999'', Jeff Beck (IMV Blueline) *2011: ''Embrace the Sun - Japan Benefit Album'' (Lion Music) *2012: '' Live at Wembley July 16, 1988'',

(Epic) *2017: ''Battle Zone'' – Scherer/Batten (Melodic Rock Records) *2018: ''Rainbow Rocket Ride'' – Svenson (Route Note) *2019: ''Brand New Start'' - Black Sand (Black Sand Records) *2021: ''Legend of Valley Doom Part 3'' - Marius Danielsen's Legend of Valley Doom (guitar solo on track 8: "The Sarlinian Bow")

References

External links

*
Joan Armatrading: More Guitar Favourites - Jennifer BattenJennifer Batten Interview
at NAMM Oral History Collection (2016) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batten, Jennifer American rock guitarists American session musicians Living people Musicians Institute alumni 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 1957 births East West Records artists