Joss Jaffe
California-based musician, producer, and intercultural collaborator Joss Jaffe has just released his new album Dub Mantra Sangha Remix, and it’s nothing but fun and celebration. The album features nine reimagined tracks from his critically acclaimed album Dub Mantra Sangha. If you are a kirtan and chant fan, a lover of roots reggae, world music, or spicy rhythm-based ingenuity, this is the music for you.
Joss’s sound is rooted in his desire to unite people through community and love and he invites the audience into a space of spontaneous joy. Here he teams up with notable remix artists Bluetech and Dubmatix to step further into pop-influenced dance music. The album features collaborations with various artists such as singer Donna De Lory (her awesome new Here in Heaven CD was reviewed here last month), who has sung on albums for Carly Simon, Ray Parker, Jr., Kim Carnes, Santana, and Madonna among many others, and Grammy-nominated sacred music composer and recording artist Jai Uttal.
Uttal and Robin Livingston (of MC Yogi fame) are just some of the local Marin artists featured on the CD. Other leading lights from the broad Bhakti movement include Jaya Lakshmi, Suzanne Sterling, Wah!, Dave Stringer, Karnamrita Dasi, and Silvia Nakkach. Leading Chillout/DJ artists like Rara Avis, DJ Taz, Timonkey, and Bluetech sprinkle their magic beats and groove styles throughout.
The whole is way greater than the sum of these renowned parts, as Joss translated these elements into the remix album, with each track made in appreciation of mantras. Jaffe’s music is an insightful exploration into the many ways musical worlds can overlap and an innovative perspective on dub, moving through deep and meditative tracks to high-energy beats.
www.jossjaffe.com
—LLOYD BARDE (LLOYDBARDE.COM)