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John Czajkowski

About Me

John Czajkowski was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. John cites the following guitarists and composers as his chief influences and inspirations: Frank Zappa, Steve Morse, Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth, Scott Henderson, Adrian Belew, Vernon Reid, Mike Patton, Pat Martino, John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Dusan Bogdonovic, Egberto Gismonte, Ornette Coleman, the Assad Brothers and the Romeros. He has been influenced by many major 20th century classical figures, but he is most inspired by the free-spirited and rebellious attitude of American maverick composers such as John Cage, Harry Partch, George Crumb and Scott Johnson.

In addition to his work writing, producing and performing with Hectic Watermelon and Jerry Goodman, John is proud to be working with German drummer, Marco Minnemann on a new project called Normalizer 2 that will involve four composers (Mario Brinkman, Alex Machacek, Marco and John) writing and recording music around an extended drum performance.

John holds a Masters of Music degree in contemporary composition from San Diego State University, where he had the distinct pleasure of studying with mentor, Dr. Joseph Waters, and professors Brent Dutton, Dr. David Ward-Steinman, Dr. Delgado and Thomas Stauffer. Prior to his MM, John studied classical guitar extensively with Romero Disciple, Robert Wetzel for many years.