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Marin Teen Rocks The County - Featuring Matt Jaffe

If you're a regular at the Sweetwater Station in Larkspur, the Bookbeat in Fairfax or the Depot Bookstore Plaza in Mill Valley, chances are you've seen Matt Jaffe perform.  If you haven't, then do yourself a favor and try and catch one of his gigs; this kid, quite simply, rocks.

We were lucky to stumble upon this gifted musician totally by accident.  A few months ago, we were at the Sweetwater Station for Open Mic night, and a friend there told us we were in for a treat.  He said there was this amazing kid who could really jam. 

Matt took the stage, with Ghanaian musician Oboubi Ashong as back-up, and blew us away.

Jaffe, at the age of 13, is already a seasoned performer, songwriter and composer.  He's been playing in clubs and other venues for about two years now, and you can find a few performances on YouTube. (Note- works better if you watch it in 'high quality mode')  His first performance, at the tender age of 11, was at Open Mic night at Bookbeat in December of 2006. 

When we arrive for the interview, we're ushered into the living room and you can't help but notice the piano in the corner.  Does he play piano we ask?  Yes, he does.  Piano and three other instruments; the violin, mandolin and, of course, guitar. 

It's a musical household.  His mother, Elisabeth plays flute and piano, and Matt's 16 year-old sister, Caroline, is a highly talented violinist.  The only family member that doesn't play an instrument is Howard, Matt's dad.  Really?  Not even in this musical family, we ask? 

"Well, my Dad is the only one in our family who can whistle," Matt admits with a smile.

Matt's been playing violin since he was five, but he only took up guitar a few years ago.

"My sister had a guitar when she was at camp.  She didn't really choose to take it up, so I found it in a corner and I started playing it and I really enjoyed it."

Did he take lessons?

"I've had a couple of lessons from Stevie Coyle.  He was a member of the Waybacks" 

Coyle, who specializes in finger-style acoustic guitar had this to say about his former student-

"Matt is one of those rare students where as a teacher you want to be careful that Nurture doesn't interfere with Nature.  He's got an innate sense of music.  And not just melody. The kid writes delicious, angular chord sequences and delightfully abstract lyrics as well.  Kid?  What am I saying?  I'm convinced Matt Jaffe is a 40 year old midget."

For a 'kid', his taste in music is eclectic.  One musical genre he loves to play is DJango, a style of gypsy jazz popularized by Belgian musician, DJango Reinhardt.  Matt and Caroline often perform DJango duets; she on violin, and her brother on guitar. (Photo at above right is Django, courtesy of RedHotJazz.com)

Since Caroline is at home, we are treated to a mini performance.  Musical strains of Celtic, swing and folk weave in and out, while Caroline fiddles and Matt strums.   

Matt plays, practices and performs a range of music from classical to jazz, but you get the feeling that being a singer-songwriter is the thing he enjoys most.  His personal style of music is difficult to define; sort of like Talking Heads meets John Prine.  In fact, Matt is heavily influenced by David Byrne-

"When I'm writing, sometimes it's fun to just put [obscure] references in the song.  The lyrics don't have to always make sense."  He stops, and then we both chime, "Stop making sense!" 

Note to non-Talking Heads fans- this is the title of Jonathan Demme's concert movie masterpiece, Stop Making Sense.  It pretty much put the band on the map.

What does he write about?   He considers this for a bit, and then answers-

"The unknown, the environment...global warming.  I like science, but sometimes I'm almost making fun of science, the irony of it."

His song 'Sitting Ducks', with allusions to both themes- the unknown and the environment- is his current favorite-

"If the sun never left, how would we be able to sleep at night?
If the sun never left, what would we do with all of that light? 
Still we would soak up the sun 
And use it to make the system run 
I'll have a light in my eyes
No matter what I see above in the skies

There's no telling what we'll see in the future
And there's no telling what we've got in store
We can be no more than sitting ducks
For things we've never seen before"

We wonder which he composes first; the music or the lyrics?

"It varies.  It's usually something [music, words] just comes to me, something that just inspires me. I'll be playing a melody and then a string of words comes.  Or I'll have words that don't have a melody yet."

Matt's performances are also somewhat unstructured.  Matt changes it up while on-stage; he says he "always leaves room for some improvisation." 

We want to see where he spends his time composing and practicing, so Matt leads the way to his studio aka bedroom, but first there is a mandatory stop outside in back.  When he's not practicing violin (an hour a day), or guitar (way more hours), you'll often find him out here shooting hoops.

It turns out, he isn't a slouch on the basketball court either.

In the five minutes or so we spend outside watching him run up the court for lay-ups, or shooting from the free throw line, he never misses a basket. 

After putting the ball away, we have to ask him the most cliched question ever; what subject does he enjoy most at school?  His current favorite subject; math.  Ok, enough about school.

We follow him back upstairs and enter the 'studio.'  There is a keyboard synthesizer, a microphone set-up, a mandolin and a violin, but it's the five, carefully propped up guitars, you can't miss.

Matt takes one of them and begins to strum, just working his way up and down the frets.  We ask him his plans for the future. 

"I want to keep performing, and I'm looking forward to bigger venues."

We're looking forward to being able to say we knew Matt Jaffe when he played the smaller venues.

Matt Jaffe performs next Monday evening for Open Mic at Bookbeat in Fairfax at 8pm.

Rancho Nicasio- Where Music, Food and Family Come Together

Beth, who is sitting at the entrance ticket table, is Max's wife.  Max, the restaurant's chef, is the son of Bob, who used to be married to Jane but is now married to Angela.  Jane is now married to Steve, who is in charge of the huge outdoor barbecue grill. Jane and Bob and Angela seem to be wearing several hats as they scurry around making sure things are running smoothly.  From the looks of the people gathered in groups to chat, strolling around with a glass of wine in their hand, or scarfing down a plate of barbecue, things are well in hand.

In a very small town that basically comprises a post office, a church and a general store, you could say that Rancho Nicasio is the main event.  A large, country-style restaurant and bar, Rancho Nicasio is a music lovers dream.  Live bands perform several nights a week with styles ranging from country to rock to Cajun, and everything in between.  But one of the things Rancho Nicasio is really known for, is the summer BBQ concert series which feature live concerts outside on the back lawn. 

We are here on a warm Sunday afternoon, to see the Kronos Quartet perform.  They are an avant-garde quartet of string-instrument playing musicians; two violinists, one viola player and a cellist.  Their music is difficult to categorize; it is an amalgam of jazz, symphonic and pop mixed electronically, to produce sounds that can appear primitive or futuristic depending on the piece.   The diversity of the crowd matches the diversity of the music- old, young, hippie, yuppie.  Women in chic straw hats and capris who would look at home in Tiburon, mingle with others wearing Indian gauze skirts more befitting Fairfax. There is a distinctly mellow vibe that only gets more mellow with each glass of wine.

Bob, a former New Yorker, seems to have that personality combination you often get with transplanted Easterners; laid-back California but with a NYC edge.  While we chat about the family business, he is constantly interrupted by arriving friends, and working family members.  Not missing a beat while he shakes hands and greets people, he tells us a bit about running the place-

"We've owned it [Rancho Nicasio] for ten years, and we've done the BBQ music series for all ten years.  We knew right away when we started, that we wanted to do the concerts for the people of Marin."

We mention that its nice that all the former and current, wives and husbands can get along enough to run the business together. He replies-

"It's great.  I've known Jane [his former wife] for a lot of years. We get along great.  And my son Max, feels very comfortable with Steve [Jane's current husband] or my wife, Angela."

While Steve is busy filling plates with chicken, ribs, corn and burgers, Jane is over at the wine tasting table.  A couple of local winemakers are showing off their vintages, including Steve from Point Reyes Vineyards.  After trying a few, we settle on the Cabernet, and with tri-tip beef BBQ in hand, we head for our lawn chairs.

The stage is set up fairly high, so that any seat has a great view.  The Rancho Nicasio provides lawn chairs, but plenty of people prefer to sit on the lawn, or perch on the picnic tables at the back.  You can also bring your own lawn chairs as well. 

A couple in front of us are enthusiastic fans of Kronos.  They're from Petaluma, and have seen Kronos before at Rancho Nicasio.  Monique says-

"Their music is like nothing else."

Another man sitting nearby has never even heard of Kronos.  We ask Larry why he's here-

"I'm here because of the social aspect and the food.  The music for me, is supplementary." 

Just then, the Kronos Quartet members walk out, take their seats and without preamble, begin to play.  The musical selections have a distinctly international sound.  There are arrangements from Turkey, Brazil, the Middle East and the Balkans.  Aside from one Thelonious Monk piece, none of the composers listed on the musical program are recognizable.  No matter.  The music ranges from sweetly melodic to strangely hypnotic to distinctly atonal. 

We check to see how Monique and Larry are reacting; no surprise Monique looks thrilled and claps loudly after each piece.  Larry, on the other hand, gets up more than once mid-concert to fetch a fresh glass of wine. 

They both look equally happy to be here.

Details:

**There are still several weeks of summer left, and if you find yourself without plans for an upcoming Sunday afternoon, we suggest you get your booty out to Rancho Nicasio.  It's a good idea to call for reservations ahead of time, because some shows can sell out.

**The BBQs On The Lawn Music Series 2008 runs through mid-September.

**Rancho Nicasio has musical performances inside the large restaurant/bar area the rest of the year.

**Map & directions.

Marin Symphony Youth Chorus- Singing As One Voice

Woooooo Woooooo!  The sound fills the church, like a roller coaster.  Seventeen pairs of arms shoot up, and then reach back, stretching, stretching.  More movement, and sound- trills, notes gliding up and down the scales- and then at the end one sung word, ethereal and glorious- Alle-le-luia! 

Jenny Bent is smiling at the group of youths assembled on the altar of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Novato.  They have just finished their vocal warm-ups, and all eyes are on Jenny, waiting for the cue to begin singing to the nearly empty church.  Her arms raise up, and the late 1400's Renaissance choral composition "El Grillo (The Cricket)", spills forth filling the space with sound.

A cricket never sounded so good.