#jesse gress

Jesse Gress, Longtime Guitarist for Todd Rundgren; Former Editor of Guitar Player Magazine, Dead at 67

Jesse Gress, longtime guitarist in Todd Rundgren’s band and former music editor of Guitar Player magazine, died Feb. 21, his family said in a statement.

Gress was 67 and had been battling lung cancer.

“May our beloved Jesse Gress rest in eternal peace and love,” Rundgren’s Spirit of Harmony Foundation said in a statement.

Gress’ death was announced Feb. 22, one day after a piece he’d penned for Guitar Player titled “Discover and Decode Todd Rundgren’s Unique Chordal Chemistry” ran on the magazine’s website.

It was one of hundreds of articles Gress wrote for the magazine over the decades and a topic he knew innately, having recorded and toured with Rundgren since 1991. Gress missed some of Rundgren’s early-2021 concerts after having a lung transplant; he was diagnosed with cancer in his native lung in January.

Rundgren (left) and Gress perform A Wizard, A True Star in Cleveland in 2021

“RIP Jesse Gress,” Fernando Perdomo wrote on Facebook. “Condolences to all who loved him with Todd Rundgren and all his projects. He was an incredible musician and he fought a courageous battle the past few years.”

Gress’ family is setting up a partnership with MusiCares, to allow fans to donate in his memory.

Todd's band this tour:

Todd Rundgren at MGM Northfield Park, Northfield, Ohio, Nov. 7, 2021

Todd Rundgren flipped A Wizard, A True Star and played side two of his shaped-in-studio-trickery 1973 album to close the second of two - vaccine- negative-COVID-test-mandatory - shows at Northfield Park outside Cleveland.

Seeming miles away from the casino just feet away, Rundgren and his band (Utopia co-founder/bassist Kasim Sulton; Bobby Strickland [woodwinds, keys, percussion]; latter-day Utopian keyboardist Gil Assayas; former Tubes drummer Prairie Prince; and masked guitarist Jesse Gress, who is in terrific form despite a recent lung transplant) finished what they started the previous evening.

As on Nov. 6’s Wizard portion, the Nov. 7 True Star second half featured the band in white formal wear as Rundgren dressed as a homeless man for “Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Feel;” in an orange getup for the soul medley of “I’m So Proud” -> “Ooh Baby Baby” -> “La La Means I Love You” -> “Cool Jerk;” and as a chef with food and faux drugs he tossed into the audience on “Hungry for Love.”

An ounce of sweet Jamaican/a snowy spoon of powder/a half a pint of Bushmill's/nothing gets you high when you're hungry for love, he sang as he tossed goodies under his ass and into the audience.

Sulton took a turn in the spotlight, singing “Does Anybody Love You” while Rundgren changed clothes. And Strickland became a hype man/preacher leading the faithful to praise Todd! on a long “Cool Jerk” coda that had the mostly full house - but less so than Saturday night - on its feet and enraptured.

The bliss continued for a spooky “I Don’t Want to Tie You Down” with Rundgren enshrouded in smoke and Center Stage lit up in blues, reds and greens. And the celebratory theme hit its apex on the Utopian National Anthem, aka “Just One Victory” as performers and fans became one for a few minutes.

The night - peppered with standing ovations - opened with a 17-song, 85-minute first set that focused on the most-popular tracks from Rundgren’s 1960’s (Nazz’s “Open My Eyes” and “Hello it’s Me”) and 1970s songbooks.

(Only the encore - “Ev’rybody” - reached into the 21st century, or, indeed, beyond 1979).

Though the setlist was identical to the previous evening, the performance was not. Rundgren’s banter including him asking a group of talkative fans if he was interrupting them, but said if there was an emergency, he could call Travis Scott.

“Too soon,” a concertgoer yelled.

“I know, I know,” the Wizard replied before moving on.

Looser and less precise, the music was also more powerful as Gress and Rundgren - in fantastic, powerful voice even for a dude who’s not 73 - refused to play solos the same way twice.

“I Think You Know” was ethereal. “Black Maria” was balls-to-the-wall, Rundgren wailing at the mic and on his windmill-thrashed guitar, “Foamy,” which represented every guitar he’s ever owned and spoke to Rundgren like a ventriloquist’s dummy as the singer talked about his career, which includes ballads like “It Wouldn’t Have Made Any Difference” and “Too Far Gone” - both played - no self-respecting guitar could love.

“An Elpee’s Worth of Tunes,” meanwhile, was a comedic Broadway mission statement as images of Rundgren’s LPs - solo, Nazz, Utopia, production work for Meat Loaf, Patti Smith, XTC et. al - shone on screens that flanked the stage. Strickland soloed like a madman with a sax throughout “Fair Warning.” And “A Dream Goes on Forever” was a reminder to keep the faith.

This opening salvo was an important reminder that an identical setlist doesn’t equal an identical show.

Grade card: Todd Rundgren at MGM Northfield Park - 11/7/21 - A

See more photos on Sound Bites’ Facebook page.

11/8/21

Todd Rundgren at State Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio, May 6, 2019

He’s been Runt; a Wizard, a True Star; the Hermit of Mink Hollow; and TR-i among other musical personalities. But on his current tour to support his recent memoir, Todd Rundgren is once again the Individualist.

“This is all about me,” a self-deprecating Rundgren told the sold-out crowd that on May 6 packed the 1,000-seat Ohio Theatre in Cleveland on the second of a two-night stand in a city that’s likely home to more fans per capita than any other.

Like the book, this tour focuses on his career up to Rundgren’s 50th birthday and covers his emergence from Philly on the proto-punk of Nazz’s “Open My Eyes” through the guitar-based rock of “Buffalo Grass” from 2000’s One Long Year.

Backed by a five-piece band that included a Car (keyboardist Greg Hawkes) a Utopian (bassist Kasim Sulton, whose secondary lead vocals on “Sometimes I Don’t Know What to Feel” proved why he’s a constant presence), a Tube (drummer Prairie Prince), guitarist Jesse Gress and woodwinds player/keys man Bobby Strickland, Rundgren had a solid underpinning and five-part harmonies to free him to play guitar or not play guitar and to improvise on vocals as he often did when pacing the lip of the stage and singing to fans up close. In incredibly strong voice, Rundgren rarely wavered out of key and has wisely tuned down some of the songs to match his deeper - but still emotionally effective - 70-year-old voice.

By Rundgren’s standards, this show was a marathon - a two-set affair of 90 and 70 minutes, respectively. Indicative of nothing, apparently, Rundgren was dressed head to toe in tight, black clothing for the first half and loose, white garb for round two. The back half of the evening opened with Rundgren answering a few videotaped fan questions where he said he loves to cook; “Bang the Drum all Day” (not played) was delivered in a dream by a “fiduciary angel;” and budding artists should take any available gig - even if it sucks.

But this concert was about making music and the music Rundgren and his band made was exquisite. Well-paced, with plenty of chestnuts (“A Dream Goes on Forever”) and rarities (“The Death of Rock and Roll”), the songs spilled forth like aural good fortunes. Still on top of his game, Rundgren played under a screen that showed images and videos of his younger self and album covers by artists - Meat Loaf, XTC, Badfinger and the New York Dolls to name just a few - he’s produced over the years.

Those productions and the money they generated freed Rundgren to do whatever he wanted in his own career and the breadth of his output was on staggering display on this night. Novelties like “An Elpee’s Worth of Toons” were juxtaposed with the guitar histrionics of “Black Maria” and willowy ballads like “Kindness,” on which Rundgren played faux conductor, and “Hello it’s Me” and never sounded out of place.

The singer rapped on the tour’s title song; he sung a cappella and gave the band a showcase - Strickland on baritone sax - on a jazzy “Born to Synthesize;” “Cliché” was, literally, electric; and songs that have been mothballed in recent years (“Real Man,” “The Want of a Nail” and “Lost Horizon” among them) were back like old friends who left the ’hood ages ago.

By the time he closed with “Just One Victory,” fans who had given sporadic standing ovations all evening had crowded up front for a chance to slap hands with their musical hero. Rundgren obliged.

But even if he hadn’t, he’d already delivered.

Grade card: Todd Rundgren at State Theatre - 5/6/19 - A

See more photos from the show here.