Melanie Renee

Melanie Jaquess began seriously studying the electric bass in 1997 with Kevin Tiernan, a graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music. Her first performance experience came that same year when she joined the rock band, Chinaski. They gigged in countless clubs around Los Angeles and even put out an album, "You Might Like This Better Than Me", which had a song featured on TV's "The Gilmore Girls".



She then went on to attend California State University, Northridge where she studied under Don Kasper and Robert Hurst (a veteran of the Tonight Show Band). Her musical focus at school was primarily on electric jazz bass but she also built up a solid foundation in a variety of genres, including classical and world music through the many different ensemble classes that she participated in. While still at CSUN, she founded the steel drum calypso band, Metro Steel, which is still regularly performing today. Melanie graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor's degree in Music in 2003.



She began studying classical upright playing in private lessons with Zac Matthews in 2002 and that fall began performing as a bassist with the Pasadena Community Orchestra and in addition to that she spent four seasons as the bassist for the baroque chamber group, the Bach to Beethoven Band. She also put in 3 years of playing bass with the rock band, Solarcade, which allowed her to hone her rock chops in front of crowds from the Viper Room to the Staples Center. She currently plays with the eclectic guitar ensemble, Zio Trio, which is allowing her to play blends of flamenco, latin, jazz, and classical fusion. Melanie continues to study electric bass while she simultaneously teaches students of her own in addition to holding a full-time position as a Multimedia Specialist at Alfred Publishing, where her focus is on the production of instructional music DVD's.