Jazz Articles

Jazz Mandolin Project: The Deep Forbidden Lake

by John Kelman
May 7, 2005

While the Jazz Mandolin Project has been a collective of sorts in the past, with a revolving door membership that has included Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and bassist Stacey Starkweather, it's really always been mandolin player Jamie Masefield's baby. And so, the Project's latest release, The Deep Forbidden Lake, is essentially a Jamie Masefield solo effort, with pianist/accordionist Gil Goldstein and bassist Greg Cohen sitting in as guests.

Whereas earlier JMP releases were sometimes lumped in with jam bands like ...

The Jazz Mandolin Project: The Deep Forbidden Lake

by Doug Collette
May 4, 2005

The Deep Forbidden Lake is not by any means a return to roots for the Jazz Mandolin Project, since Jamie Masefield's very first albums under the JMP moniker were with three-man lineups including drums. This new effort is rather a distillation of his ideas, a sort of folk-chamber music in which he, bassist Greg Cohen, and keyboardist Gil Goldstein explore the nuances of melody provided by a wide selection of compositions, the breadth of which clearly illustrates Jamie's eclectic taste ...

The Jazz Mandolin Project: Jungle Tango

by Farrell Lowe
May 1, 2003

The Jazz Mandolin Project may be touted as a cutting-edge band exploring new instrumentation and sonorities, but after listening to their new album Jungle Tango several times over the last three weeks, I don't hear it. What I do hear is an ensemble with inspired interplay, all fine players, and yes, there is a mandolinist--band founder Jamie Masefield--in the group.

The band is based around a nucleus of acoustic bass, drums, and mandolin with additional contributions by Gil ...