Jake Eckert – (born April 27, 1976) is best known as the guitarist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and New Orleans Suspects based out of New Orleans, Louisiana. He performed around the world with Dirty Dozen from 2006 until 2013. He is the current guitarist and founding member of the supergroup New Orleans Suspects.
Before his time in the New Orleans music scene, he began playing music in Atlanta as a child. It was there he was introduced to the thriving Georgia live music scene. In his early years he shared the stage with Derek Trucks Band, Merl Saunders, Col. Bruce Hampton and Marshall Tucker Band. In 2000, Eckert Moved to Los Angeles where he spent over six years performing live and doing recording sessions in Los Angeles and the West Coast. In Los Angeles, he played with the funk/jazz band New Soul Underground, with this group he recorded and performed live with guitar legend Larry Carlton.
In 2007, Eckert joined The Dirty Dozen Brass Band and now lives in New Orleans. He performed at the 2009 Grammy Awards with Allen Toussaint, Lil’ Wayne, Robin Thicke, and Terence Blanchard. Eckert Released his first solo album, Roll On, in 2009. It features his original compositions. Roll On also features guest performers George Porter Jr., Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Lee Thornburg, Travis Carlton and Kirk Fletcher.
Eckert is also a busy recording engineer and producer. He owns a Rhythm Shack Studio in New Orleans. He was engineering credits on two Grammy Award-winning albums, Tassili, by Tinariwen (2011 Anti) and Porcupine Meat, by Bobby Rush (Rounder Records 2016). He has produced albums for John Mooney, New Orleans Suspects, and Cedric Burnside among many others.
He has recorded or performed with Little Feat, George Porter Jr., Larry Carlton, Allen Toussaint, Lil’ Wayne, Dr. John, Warren Haynes, Art Neville, Chali2na, Robin Thicke, Terence Blanchard, DJ Logic, Oteil Burbridge, Kofi Burbridge, Widespread Panic, James Gadson, Jesse McCartney, Jennifer Hartswick, Gary Novak, Mike Landau, Kirk Fletcher, Anders Osborne, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Luther Dickinson, Trombone Shorty, Dave Matthews, and Marcus King among others.
