Song: Passion Play

"The problem with passion, it slips away
I guarantee you'll want it back someday "

Executive summary: ripping rocker with great lyrics.
Arrangement: electric
Lead vocal: Shelley
Wild card: the whole lyric, which is one of their best.
Download mp3 or flac

A song that came into rotation relatively late, as far as I can tell, Passion Play quickly established itself as a potent rocker and was often found in featured setlist slots (closers, encores) throughout the last year or so of the band's career. It's built on Mike's insistent, driving bass line, Shelley's intense delivery of the incredible lyric, and the full-band build and explosion towards the end.

With such a perfect match of words and music, I think Passion Play holds up as one of their very best songs.

"If you're sick and tired of all the compromise and all the lies behind
Count yourself a step ahead, at least you're not yet brain-dead"

Song: Mercury

"Bound to the infinity"

Executive summary: totally fucking bonkers composed masterpiece
Arrangement: electric
Lead vocal: Chris
Wild card: grindcore repeating section near the end
Download mp3 or flac


Mercury is a slippery, shifting maze of complex composition and raging rock shred. I think it's their best "progressive" style song, given the amazingly natural way all the constant change fits into a seamless whole. In fact, that idea of change seems lie at the heart of the concept behind the song: the music is always shifting, scattering, and flowing back together, like the element. The structure of the music itself is expressive and part of the meaning of the song. Imagine juggling liquid mercury, slowing and accelerating, twisting and turning as the element flows chaotically through your hands, droplets scattering from your fingertips...also, frequent exposure to Mercury can make you crazy, so the metaphor works on a couple levels. Which is always nice.

The lyrical section in the middle is played at a slower tempo with a slide lead that strongly contrasts with the frenetic nature of the rest of the song. The brief lyrics themselves seem to be a love story told in alchemical allegory.

Since it's so heavily composed, every version I've heard of Mercury sticks fairly close to the same template; but as with a lot of intricate Jambay songs, the improvisation is in the details of the interplay and runs much deeper than might be immediately obvious. Different versions vary in terms of tightness of execution, tempo ("fast" to "blazing") and the details of the various shreddy solos and duets scattered through the labyrinth of progressions. The edgy, dissonant repeating section near the end varies in length to a moderate degree. That part drives some people nuts, but I frakkin' love it.

If you listen to this badass motherfucker loud in the right mood and setting it might just fry your brain in the nicest possible way.

You find yourself wondering how the music was born

"Hey, we're Jambay, we play a type of music we call 'Jambay.'"

Jambay was a 4-piece rock band, formed in 1989, that created a unique and remarkable blend of complex post-progressive-rock composition, lyrically and conceptually sophisticated songwriting, intricately conversational improvisation, and blistering hard-rock performance. They also performed on all acoustic instruments as the "Lazy Porch Dogs," their own opening act. They built up a catalog in the neighborhood of 150 songs over the years, and used them to melt faces (as the kids call it these days) up and down the West Coast. They were a smart, funny, soulful band with kickass chops and some truly great songs.

Jambay was:

Chris Haugen performing on electric and acoustic guitars, sustain, lap steel guitar, mandolin, earnest authenticity, more sustain, and vocals.

Mike Sugar commanding electric and acoustic basses, mandolin, oblique and quirky constructions, some kind of pennywhistle or recorder or something, sundry found objects, and vocals.

Shelley Doty inhabiting electric and acoustic guitars, witty banter, mandolin, charisma, syncopated staccato phrasing, spirit, and vocals.

Matt Butler driving the drums and percussion, and providing laconic commentary. And, yes, vocals.

The original lineup split in late 1996 not long after completing their first full national tour. The general interpretation among fans was that they were simply worn out from being the best band no one had ever heard of (or paid) for so long. The actual reasons are nobody's business but theirs. A couple years later the three guys re-formed Jambay as a trio, and the quartet performs reunion shows from time to time.

All four band members continue to make worthy music both together and apart. There are links to their current projects in the little linky box over yonder -->. This site is about the original lineup.

Prelude

There's no way to tell up front how much time I'm going to put into this over the long haul. It may end up being no more than the original project that is spurring its development: a place to honor and perpetuate the music of Jambay, an amazing psychedelic rock quartet that blew up the West Coast in the early and mid-90s.

I've been reviewing all of the live recordings available online, listening back and forth through them to assemble the compilations you'll find on this site, and I have been stunned and amazed at how well the songs and performances hold up. I truly think they were one of the most creative bands of the modern rock era, and they fostered a small but very intensely loyal fan following that lent their shows an energy that was quite spectacular considering the small venues they normally played.

I look forward to presenting this music to you, in the hope that you might find something new and unexpected. Thanks!

As for who I am - why should you care? Not gonna answer that one. Why am I doing this? Because no one else has. There are others out there who know this music in much greater depth than I, but I've been waiting nearly 15 years for the right person to step up, for Jeebus' sake, so I guess I'll just get on with it. Maybe the inevitable errors I make in the process will drive some of those more senior members of Team Friendly to come out of the woodwork and start posting corrections in the comments here. I would greatly welcome that.

Please note that this blog is not (and will never be) "monetized." Just sayin.'