Cuban-born multi-instrumentalist J. (Juan) Vega (guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion, composer/arranger) began playing a plastic guitar from Sears Roebuck at the age of 14, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.  He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Music at Immaculate Heart College, and he holds a Masters Degree in Commercial Music Performance from Cal State Los Angeles. Along the way he has studied jazz and commercial guitar with Jimmy Wyble, Ron Anthony, Tom Hynes, and Barry Zweig, and classical guitar with Richard Pattie and Matthew Elgart.

 

J. Vega has taught music-related classes at California State University Los Angeles (CSULA), at East Los Angeles College (ELAC), Los Angeles City College (LACC), and he teaches guitar at his home studio as well.  He has worked as a leader and sideman in many jazz and popular music venues throughout Southern California from Ventura to San Diego.  His bands, “The J. Vega Trio”, “The V-Tones”, and “J. Vega and Friends” perform regularly at venues such as Colombo’s Jazz Club in Eagle Rock.  Other performance credits include “The Esquires Big Band”, the Reno Jazz Festival, Louie Cruz Beltran’s Jazz Ensemble, and the traditional Cuban and Afro-Latin ensemble “Los Jovenes del Son", where he played Cuban tres and arranged Cuban classics as well as original songs for the band.