Guitar.net: Jennifer Batten : Interview and Performance

Jennifer Batten: Interview and Performance

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Jennifer shares her experiences playing on tour with Michael Jackson.

This clip is mostly interview footage, but you can catch some of her incredible playing at 7:20.

Editor's Note: I studied a bit with Jennifer at Musician's Institute in 1987. One day there was a note on her door that she wouldn't be in that day. She never showed up again. We later learned that was the day she picked up the gig with Michael! — Gawain Reifsnyder

Artist Info

Jennifer Batten Bio

Jennifer Batten is an American guitarist. She has worked as both a session musician and a solo artist.

Batten has released three solo albums. Her 1992 debut, Above Below and Beyond, was produced by Stevie Wonder's guitarist Michael Sembello. In 1997, she released the worldbeat-influenced Jennifer Batten's Tribal Rage: Momentum. Her third album, Whatever, was released in Japan in September 2007 and the US on April 18, 2008.

Batten has appeared on recordings such as Jeff Beck's Who Else! (1999) and You Had It Coming (2001), Carmine Appice's Guitar Zeus (1995), Michael Sembello's Heavy Weather (1992), Carl Anderson's Sunlight Again (1994), Cindy Cruz's debut, Public Image bassist Bret Helm's "Doc Tahri" and the debut of The Immigrants. Her music video appearances include Jeff Beck, Michael Jackson, Natalie Cole and Sara Hickman and Miguel Mateos's "Obsesión".

Batten played lead and rhythm guitar on Michael Jackson's Bad, Dangerous and HIStory world tours, as well as his 1993 Super Bowl half-time performance.

Between 1994 and 1999 Batten joined Dave Rodgers and Domino as featured guitarist on the eurobeat songs "Sun City", "Music For the People", "Fly" and "Woa Woa Woa." Her writing and performing is uncredited in several other songs under the A-Beat C label.Template:Citation needed Her live Eurobeat appearances were limited to playing at the Tokyo Dome with Dave Rodgers and Queen of Hearts.

In 2010 she recorded a solo for the song "Bad Girls" for a Polish singer Doda.