Guitarist, composer and teacher Nat Janoff, has been working steadily in the contemporary jazz scene for the past 15 years. Nat’s earliest experience with music started with the piano. Then, he switched to bass. After hearing Eddie Van Halen, Nat had to play guitar. Growing up in the 80’s, Nat’s musical interests were all things rock and metal and Nat earned a reputation for being one of the best shred guitarist in the area. Nat’s transition from metal and rock guitar to jazz occurred when he sought out a platform to improvise for longer than the standard rock riff. That, and hearing Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Birds of Fire for the first time. Pursue jazz he did and after earning his Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from William Paterson University in 1996, Nat set to work forging his own musical path.
    The first marker on that path was Nat’s debut album, Looking Through featuring the rhythm section of world renowned electric bassist, Matthew Garrison and drummer Gene Lake, putting Nat on the map as both a player and a composer...
...The Nat Janoff Group features Janoff on guitar, McLaughlin and Hancock alumnus Matthew Garrison on bass and Gene Lake, son of sax star Oliver, on drums. Janoff seems able to seamlessly transfer from one school of jazz playing to the next. The title cut features Janoff as fusion star. The next piece, "Room With a View,” has him playing beautiful jazz chords and some tasty, relaxed riffs before he and Garrison get adventurous. "Horizon” sounds like something John McLaughlin might have put on his masterpiece Extrapolation in 1969. Janoff overdubs himself on "Three Sunsets” in another piece worthy of being also included, despite its electricity, on side two of another McLaughlin LP, My Goal’s Beyond.

    Matthew Garrison gets a lot of space on this album and he doesn’t disappoint. His playing is lyrical and forceful without being bombastic in any way. He is truly capable of being the leading voice on any tune. On "Home” he actually plays the Pat Metheny part.
   Gene Lake has a similar musical background to Dennis Chambers, but he seems to have lighter hands. To these ears he is very strong on his cymbals and can reach down for some punch if needed. He is a dominant force on "Orange.”
   Janoff’s compositions are very strong and provide the players with plenty of material to exploit. This is an outstandingly diverse album... By WALTER KOLOSKY, allaboutjazz.com

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"...Janoff isn’t John McLaughlin; he has his own style.
But if you like John McLaughlin,chances are you will like Janoff!”
– Walter Kolosky, allaboutjazz.com
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"...Any 29 year old (Nat Janoff) that can hang with this duo, let alone lead the date, has transitively proven himself worthy of attention...
Here's hoping more sessions like this keep getting put out there...
~ Phil DiPietro, allaboutjazz.com