Although I haven’t lived in Boston in almost 10 years and it had been admittedly a while since I had talked to Jeff, I was still heartbroken to hear of his passing. Jeff was a integral staple of the music community that I was a part of in the late 2000s, and was a regular figure at the Whitehaus, the house venue in JP where I lived. I have many fond memories of Jeff coming by with a stack of vinyl, stoked to share some of his wealth of music knowledge. In fact, he turned me on to some of my favorite artists to this day. I’ll never forget the night he showed up with Pharoah Sanders’ album “Jewels of Thought” — my life changed in a single evening.
As far as his radio show, I’ve never met someone so dedicated to showcasing local artists. At the time, being asked to perform live on WMBR was, for me, like being asked to perform at Carnegie Hall. I felt incredibly honored and nervous. I was used to performing in front of people where I could gauge the audience’s enthusiasm, but performing on the radio with no visible audience but an indeterminate amount of unseen listeners was new for me. Jeff was great at helping me feel relaxed and comfortable in that environment. I think I performed on Pipeline! twice, once with my friend Adam Foam (ARKM FOAM) where I just kind of winged it, improvised looping midi marimba beats from a keytar while Adam played skronky handheld cassette noise. The second Many Mansions performance on Pipeline! was during Many Mansions’ live band phase where the band consisted of me, drummer Orion Russell and guitarist Sean Goggins. I felt really good about this performance. We had been practicing a lot during that time, we knew what songs we were going to play, overall we were more prepared and as a result we were more locked in during the performance. In fact, I liked the session so much that I actually released it as an album “WHALES EP” (available at manymansions.bandcamp.com) and it is the only record of the live band phase of Many Mansions, as we all went our separate ways soon after the recording. I remember being way too stoned for the interview part of the show, but Jeff was a natural on the air and made it much less awkward for me. His tireless dedication to putting the spotlight on local talent that might not have otherwise gotten recognition is unparalleled. It was a true service he did, and his passing is a great loss to the Boston music scene. He will be sorely missed.
As far as his radio show, I’ve never met someone so dedicated to showcasing local artists. At the time, being asked to perform live on WMBR was, for me, like being asked to perform at Carnegie Hall. I felt incredibly honored and nervous. I was used to performing in front of people where I could gauge the audience’s enthusiasm, but performing on the radio with no visible audience but an indeterminate amount of unseen listeners was new for me. Jeff was great at helping me feel relaxed and comfortable in that environment. I think I performed on Pipeline! twice, once with my friend Adam Foam (ARKM FOAM) where I just kind of winged it, improvised looping midi marimba beats from a keytar while Adam played skronky handheld cassette noise. The second Many Mansions performance on Pipeline! was during Many Mansions’ live band phase where the band consisted of me, drummer Orion Russell and guitarist Sean Goggins. I felt really good about this performance. We had been practicing a lot during that time, we knew what songs we were going to play, overall we were more prepared and as a result we were more locked in during the performance. In fact, I liked the session so much that I actually released it as an album “WHALES EP” (available at manymansions.bandcamp.com) and it is the only record of the live band phase of Many Mansions, as we all went our separate ways soon after the recording. I remember being way too stoned for the interview part of the show, but Jeff was a natural on the air and made it much less awkward for me. His tireless dedication to putting the spotlight on local talent that might not have otherwise gotten recognition is unparalleled. It was a true service he did, and his passing is a great loss to the Boston music scene. He will be sorely missed.
appearances: Jan. 13, 2009 and Aug. 24, 2010