Home » Jazz Musicians » Jeff Sipe
Jeff Sipe
Jeff began to play drums in the sixth grade. Then In 1975, Jeff’s first stepping stone was attending the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. — One of Jeff’s dreams finally came true when he was accepted to Berklee in 1977. While at Berklee, Jeff studied under Bob Kaufman and Bill Norine, he attended clinics given by Alan Dawson and was taken under by his mentor Lee Venters. Jeff was lucky enough to attend Berklee with an impressive cast of musicians like Branford Marsalis, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern and Jeff Watts, Kevin Eubanks, Dean Parks, Steve Vai, just to name a few.
While studying at Berklee, Jeff met and played in a band with Steve Vai and Baron Brown called “Winter”. This experience turned Jeff on to a wide world of music and rhythm which gave him valuable tools that he still carries with him today.
After his stay in Boston, Jeff moved to Atlanta in 1983. There he began gigging and teaching at the Atlanta Institute for Music and at a popular hang out for Atlanta drummers, Atlanta Drums and Percussion. Jeff spent time sitting in with local musicians and was introduced to Bruce Hampton through Dan Wall, a keyboardist that he had been playing with…..and that’s the rest of the story. It seemed too fitting that their first meeting took place at a wedding because not only was there a marriage there was a wedding of vast musical intention. Jeff then asked Oteil Burbridge and Jimmy Herring to sit in on this free willed musical band wagon and the Aquarium Rescue Unit was born.
In 1996, Jeff met up with Swedish-born bass extraordinaire Jonas Hellborg and the Memphis guitar monster Shawn Lane. This Trio did many Europoean tours as well as American tours. Jonas released 4 recordings of this band including “Temporal Analogues of Paradise”, a classic.
Jeff’s interest in bluegrass music led him to 3 years with “Leftover Salmon” where he gigged almost non stop! The recording “Nashville Sessions” was a high lite of that period having an opportunity to work with Randy and Earl Srcruggs, Bela Fleck, Waylon Jennings, Lucinda Williams, Taj Mahal, & Jerry Douglas among others.
Jeff took on his own creation known as the Zambiland Orchestra. This experimental big band featured Ricky Keller conducting members of Phish, Widespread Panic, Michael Ray and the Cosmic Crew, the Derek Trucks Band, the Fiji Mariners, MOE, Little Feat, Sam Bush, John Cowan, Warren Haynes, Stanton Moore, the Atlanta All-Stars, Little John, Sonny Emory Randy Honea, and many others.
Read moreTags
The 4 Korners, Jeff Sipe Trio, Gary Willis and Hiromi
by Len Davis
A new release from The 4 Korners, plus Jeff Sipe Trio, Gary Willis, and Hiromi.Playlist The 4 Korners “Arcade Nights" from Arcade Nights (Self Produced) 00:00 Band Of Other Brothers “Babko from City Of Cranes (Self Produced) 06:20 Jeff Sipe Trio"Lightning Man" from Jeff Sipe Trio (Abstract Logix) 12:39 Gary Willis “Disconnectivity" from Retro (Abstract Logix) 18:54 Niacin} “Hog Funk" from <em>Time Crunch</em> (Magna Carta) 25:16</li> <li>{{m: Dennis Chambers “Plan B" from Outbreak (tone Centre) 31:26 Tony Grey ...
read moreJeff Sipe Trio at Independent Public Alehouse
by Mark Sullivan
Jeff Sipe Trio Featuring Mike Seal And Taylor Lee Independent Public Alehouse Greenville, SC March 5, 2015 The Jeff Sipe Trio began their set with a surprising cover version of Weather Report's “Black Market." Not a tune that could be easily rearranged for a guitar/bass/drums trio, but they made it sound like it was written for them. Starting with a selection any fusion fan would know is a great way to draw an audience ...
read moreJeff Sipe Trio: Jeff Sipe Trio featuring Mike Seal and Taylor Lee
by Mark Sullivan
Drummer Jeff Sipe was a member of Colonel Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit and has played with many other musicians. But probably his most visible association was the power trio with Jonas Hellborg and Shawn Lane, followed by a more recent trio with guitarist Alex Machacek. So he is clearly very comfortable in an improvising rock/jazz guitar trio. He says of the format: “The trio format is still exciting to me," Sipe explains. “It's very transparent. There is nobody there ...
read moreJeff Sipe
by Alan Bryson
Jeff Sipe is a drummer based in jny: Asheville, North Carolina, and is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. For decades he has been a conspicuous presence on the Southern music scene. He was an original member of the Aquarium Rescue Unit, and the phenomenal trio Hellborg, Lane, Sipe. He's known as Jimmy Herring's go-to drummer, and he can be found in all kinds of fluid combinations with numerous artists. The unique sound on his recent ...
read moreProject Z: Lincoln Memorial
by David Miller
Warts and All, the title of the popular jamband Moe.'s series of full concert releases, signified that the whole thing was there, unedited, with mistakes, wrong turns, everything. Project Z leader Jimmy Herring is very familiar with this philosophy. His early musical education came on the road with Col. Bruce Hampton and his Aquarium Rescue Unit. Says Herring, "[Hampton]'d say, 'Life ain't always good. Why should music be?' If you're tapped into it and you're really giving it ...
read moreGuitarist Jimmy Herring to Embark on First Solo Tour with Greg Osby, Oteil Burbridge, Scott Kinsey and Jeff Sipe
Source:
Abstract Logix
For the first time ever, legendary guitarist Jimmy Herring is hitting the road under his own name, with a hand-picked ensemble of all-star musicians in support. Pioneering a daring hybrid which crosses rock energy with the sophistication and improvisational fire of jazz, Herring’s dynamic, exploratory guitar playing has been a key component of such renowned groups as the Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz is Dead, Project Z, and, most recently, Widespread Panic – with whom Herring plays lead guitar to this ...
read more
Guitarist Alex Machacek, Bassist Matt Garrison and Drummer Jeff Sipe Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Alex Machacek, Matt Garrison and Jeff Sipe have been responsible for some of the greatest moments in electric jazz since the turn of the new millennium.
So too, has Abstract Logix, the brainchild of Souvik Dutta, changed the landscape for this music since 2005, growing from a mere storefront into label and clearinghouse, to the point that the name is now synonymous with what fusion has become. With the release of the Machacek/Sipe/Garrison collaboration, Improvision (2007), comes another transformation; Dutta ...
read more
Jimmy Herring, Greg Osby, Jeff Sipe and more on Project Z
Source:
All About Jazz
2005 Release on AbstractLogix from ace guitarist Jimmy Herring as he partners up with his long time friends Jeff Sipe (Apt Q258) on drums, Jason Crosby on keyboards and departed friend Ricky Keller on bass. One of the most surprising additions to this project is Blue Note Recording artist Greg Osby on alto sax. The band is Project Z and the music is beyond categorization. Short Review As a followup to its auspicious, self-titled debut from 2000, Project ...
read more
