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Jamie Masefield
The name itself, The Jazz Mandolin Project suggests an ongoing experiment, and so it is that Masefield is currently steering his group away from the concert stage and moving it in front of a movie screen to shed light on classic literature and the ethics of Leo Tolstoy, (who has often received the title as the greatest storyteller in modern history). Unlike anything Masefield has done before, the quartet is now performing live, an original soundtrack score to a Russian story written 120 years ago... but with a modern American twist. Tolstoy's tale is of a man spurred on by the Devil to acquire more and more land, who ends up dying of exhaustion in distant lands from pure greed. The story takes on a modern context through the creative montage of video footage of American lifestyles and landscapes, collected and edited to follow the storyline by Masefield, while traversing the US on tour in 2005. The handheld video footage also gives a realistic keyhole view to the bumpy, fast life of a traveling musician. James Joyce said, How Much Land Does a Man Need? is the greatest story the world of literature knows.
JMP has recorded 6 albums. In 2000 they released Xenoblast, their major label debut on Blue Note Records, to critical acclaim. It's latest, The Deep Forbidden Lake, is an acoustic CD featuring 12 of leader, Jamie Masefield's favorite songs by his favorite musicians. He's accompanied by grammy winning pianist and accordian player, Gil Goldstein (Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius) and upright bassist Greg Cohen (Tom Waits, Ornette Coleman).
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The Tom & Jamie Show at the College Street Congregational Church
by Doug Collette
The Tom & Jamie Show College Street Congregational Church Burlington, VTMarch 25, 2017 Anyone who attended the Chick Corea / Bela Fleck concert at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival in 2007 had to feel some measure of deja vu as The Tom & Jamie Show commenced at the College St Congregational Church Saturday evening March 25th. Not that this performance was anywhere near as intense, but it was scintillating in its own relaxed way because ...
read moreThe Jazz Mandolin Project at Club Metronome
by Doug Collette
The Jazz Mandolin Project Club Metronome Burlington, Vermont February 20, 2009 On the second of just two stops within their northeast home base, The Jazz Mandolin Project, led by Jamie Masefield, played like a finely-tuned unit of musicians who had spent weeks on the road. Noticeable right from the start, the high-quality sound in Burlington Vermont's Club Metronome was a harbinger of things to come as the fidelity continued full and clear ...
read moreJamie Masefield: Re-Invention
by Doug Collette
Jamie Masefieldâ????s professional independence is matched by his artistic integrity, so the recent premiere of his conception of Tolstoyâ????s How Much Land Does a Man Need" is another innovative change of direction for the leader of The Jazz Mandolin Project.
This new work of Masefieldâ????s is an ambitious project involving narration, video and a new original score to relate one of Tolstoyâ????s most famous short stories. In the course of the presentation, Masefield steers his group away from the concert ...
read moreJazz Mandolinist Jamie Masefield's New Mamavig Trio
Source:
JazzMando.com
Mandolinist Jamie Masefield (Jazz Mandolin Project) embraces his latest incarnation in the new acoustic jazz trio, Mamavig. Accompanied by the amazing guitarist Frank Vignolia (last five years with Mark O'Connor's Hot String Trio), Vignolia is arguably one of the best Gypsy-jazz stylists this side of the Atlantic. Slinging upright bass in the group is Gary Mazzaroppi (Marian McPartland's East Coast rhythm section, and regular bassist with Jim Hall and Les Paul).
Masefield's long span with the internationally acclaimed Jazz Mandolin ...
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Jazz Mandolin Project's Jamie Masefield Interviewed at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
Mandolinist Jamie Masefield has been the man behind the Jazz Mandolin Project since inception, a group that's seen a host of musicians come through its doors in its 10-year existence.
Following the release of Xenoblast (Blue Note, 2000), which gave the group its biggest push into the limelight, Masefield returned to the independent label scene, releasing a number of fine albums, including last year's The Deep Forbidden Lake (Lenapee, 2005).
AAJ contributor Doug Collette caught up with Masefield during his ...
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Like Mandolinists Mike Marshall and David Grisman before him, Jamie Masefield is challenging notions of what that stringed instrumentforever associated with folk and bluegrass musiccan do. - JazzTimes, Bill Milkowski, May 2000
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