Jennifer Batten

The evening's showstopper was provided by former Michael Jackson/Jeff Beck cohort Jennifer Batten, who performed an amazing and technically dazzling solo arrangement of Lover; she recalled Paul's early multitracking techniques by providing her own beats, rhythm and harmony parts and leads, all presumably done with digital effects.

Cleveland Plaine Dealer:

Of course, in the right hands, the guitar itself can sing, as Jennifer Batten (a veteran of Michael Jackson's and Jeff Beck's bands) demonstrated with a dazzling re-creation of Paul's hit "Lover."

Rollingstone.com"

Paul capped the three-and-a-half hour tribute by accepting an American Music Masters award statue and playing a set with the Les Paul Trio, which backed him for a tear-jerking rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The marathon concert kicked off with renditions of Paul’s material, including a lighter-than-air “Lover (When You’re Near Me)” by Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson, Jeff Beck)
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Guitar Player Magazine (Cover Story)
Sure the music business is tough for everybody. But for a female instrumentalist to succeed, she must have all the requisite talent and that mediate against that success. Jennifer Batten is just such a musician. - Joe Gore

The Indianapolis Star
“Batten is playful with the guitar, unlike a majority of guitar virtuosos who deaden all emotion with technique. Batten is having fun and that can’t help but effect the listener as well. - Her versatility carries her debut disc in a dozen different directions, always providing a new surprise at each turn. It’s a rich landscape for Batten, whose flamboyance is hard to overlook.” - Dave Hill

Guitar World
“Young players devour her interviews for tips on two-hand tapping and other technical myteries. Hi-tech junkies memorize the gear she uses. She’s a complete athlete at the fretboard-a buising monster”.- Alan Di Perna

Miami Herald
“An amazing guitarist regardless of gender-Batten rivals Hendrix, Van Halen - Batten has so much more in her arsenal than the same old power chords every would be Hendrix likes to trot out as though he invented them. Batten has squeeks and squawks and honks and roars and a whole library of other strange sounds She has licks that scorch the thythms, and she has guts”. -Leonard Pitts

Soundcheck Magazine
“This is an album that all up and coming shredders should add to their collections-right along side Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen” - “During auditions, she beat out 100 other guitarists to win a spot on Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour”

San Diego Union
“Blessed with prodigeous technique, she brings advanced harmonic skills leaned from her jazz years to the blistering hard rock featured on most of her 14-song album” -George Varga


- Rollingstone.com