Face it: at the outer edges of high performance, we’ve come to expect specialists. We don’t expect the hoops star who can slam dunk from the free-throw line to be able to return a 120 mile per hour tennis serve. We don’t expect the racecar that does zero-to-sixty under four seconds to get 40 miles per gallon in the city. And we don’t expect the guy known for playing outrageously aggressive shred metal guitar to hold his own in a New York City jazz trio. Fortunately, Alex Skolnick never got that memo. Alex is equally at home throwing down brutal metal riffs as delicate straight-ahead jazz melodies.
A Northern California native, Alex studied with Joe Satriani prior to joining the Oakland-based thrash metal band Testament when he was sixteen years old. That was over 20 years ago. Testament eventually went on to achieve legendary status. They’ve recorded nine studio albums, four live albums, six compilation albums, and six singles.
But there’s another side to Alex Skolnick. It’s a side witnessed regularly by the swanky crowds at New York’s Iridium Club—the late-Les Paul’s regular stage—and other jazz venues. It’s there that Alex shows off his prodigious jazz chops with the Alex Skolnick trio. Alex relocated from California to New York in 2001 and received a music degree from the New School. It was during this period that he experimented with arranging jazz versions of classic metal tunes. And that eventually resulted in the trio which also features Matt Zebroski on drums and Nathan Peck on upright bass.
The Alex Skolnick trio recently released Veritas, their fourth full-length which was met with great reviews. Check out this fun video of “Bollywood Jam” from Veritas, featuring Indian-infused rhythms and three hot belly dancers; and which was recently reviewed by Guitar World on-line.

Nowadays, Alex divides his time between his jazz trio, Testament, and making guest appearances with the likes of Rodrigo y Gabriela. But whether he’s playing straight-ahead jazz or no-holds-barred thrash metal, in his Heritage Guitars, Alex relies on Seymour Duncan pickups for tone and versatility.

“There was no question that the pickups for my Heritage AS signature model had to be Seymour Duncan: a ’59 in the neck and a JB in the bridge. This guitar has hand-built craftsmanship that rivals any vintage instrument, demanding a pickup that electrifies its high quality without interference. The warm, low end of the ’59 and the crisp clarity of the JB manage to achieve this by adding power and dynamics without losing any the guitar’s natural tone.”
For more on Alex, including tour dates, music, video, and photos, check out his official website.