Jazz Mandolin Project

Over the past decade, Jazz Mandolin Project has been making music that steadily evolved. In the late 90’s the sound was born of jazz and shot through with heaps of improvisation and exploration. The unique sound of Jamie Masefield’s zig-zagging mandolin gave the music an unmistakable quality, and he employed various rhythm sections to form intrepid trios (one of which included Jon Fishman) that skittered their sounds across stages at clubs and festivals with brainy glee. The self-titled and Tour De Flux albums seemed to mark a clear path that Masefield would return to again and again.

I had the pleasure of attending All Good Music Festival at Marvin’s Mountaintop in Masontown, West Virginia in July of 2004. It was a weekend I will remember forever. I got the opportunity to watch as Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon jammed backstage to and with anyone that would play or listen. I also sat and enjoyed my coffee the next morning as Jon Fishman of Phish and Jazz Mandolin Project recounted a trip to Hawaii in which he peered through a healing fountain’s waters giving him momentary 20/20 vision. Needless to say, when I found a copy of the All Good DVD in my mailbox this past fall I was more than anxious to relive moments from one of my favorite festivals of the year.