Daily Inspiration: Meet Joss Jaffe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joss Jaffe.

Hi Joss, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
My name is Joss Jaffe. I’m originally from Santa Barbara, CA. My mom’s side of the family is all from Los Angeles. Music has had a big effect on me since I was young. I began to fall in love with music through listening to my dad’s 60’s & 70’s era vinyl collection. It was full of all kinds of classics from the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Frank Zappa, Otis Redding, Four Tops, Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison, and many other 60’s and 70’s classics. There were a couple of Bob Marley Records, including Natty Dread, that I listened to probably a thousand times. There was something about vinyl, with the clicks, pops, and warmth, that transported me to another musical realm. 

Alongside this, I was introduced to what people call World Music. Essentially, it is just music that is popular in different parts of the world. I heard the Water Wheel by Hamza El Din, Drums of Passion by Babatunde Olatunji, & Morning and Evening Ragas by Ali Akbar Khan. This opened my mind to a whole constellation of music that changed my life and thinking about music forever. 

My first instrument was a guitar at the age of 9, but very quickly, I gravitated towards percussion. I really liked Reggae music and I would listen for hours to Bob Marley and watch videos of him. The way he would play the guitar was like a drum or a shaker. He played it in a very rhythmic way, as if he was drumming. This influenced my playing and I saw the rhythmic dimension to all instruments. As I started playing more percussion, the instrument that spoke to me very strongly was Tabla, the 2-piece drum of India. I was first introduced to the tabla by my first music teacher Montino Bourbon a master of the Indian Classical instrument called sarode.  I met a teacher who taught Tabla at UCSB and had recently arrived in California from Nepal, Hom Nath Updhyaya. We became friends, and he invited me to go and study music in Nepal & India. I spent 3 months in Nepal and India when I was 18. I practiced every day very hard, many hours a day. Both tabla as well as vocal music and an Indian instrument called Sarode. 

When I returned back to California, I went to UC Berkeley, and although I didn’t major in music, I took many classes at Berkeley and also at the Ali Akbar College of Music in Marin. I learned from the great masters Ali Akbar Khan, Swapan Chaudhuri, Zakir Hussain and G.S. Sachdev. I spent many years diligently studying the music system called “Raga” and the rhythmic system called “Tala.” This incredible system of music informs much of what I do and how I think about music, even if I’m not playing classical Indian music. 

I began touring very young. At 19, I went on my first tour outside California, performing in Arizona with another Los Angeles artist named Dave Stringer, who was later Nominated for a Grammy in 2023. I really enjoyed touring, and over the years, I have visited many countries and played at many festivals around the world. Because of my background in yoga music, mysticism, and spirituality I often perform at events and festivals featuring yoga. I really enjoy this as the audience is often very “Sattvic” which means attracted to health, wellness, spirituality, and peacefulness. These are nice environments to play in, and people are very receptive to the music. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I often say being a musician can be a strange way to make a living. It’s very rewarding, but it’s “all over the place,” both literally and figuratively. It involves a significant amount of travel, which can be both fun and challenging. The projects are always totally different. I think this is the thing that attracts me to it very strongly. I like the variety of different things I get to work on. Every day is different. 

There is no shortage of challenges in music (as there are in any profession), so I could write an essay here! However, I will focus on one particular set of challenges that I think is very important. That is, challenges around creativity. 

Sometimes creativity comes easily, and other times there is “writer’s block.” But even more than that, creativity is really the way musicians work. Whether it’s composing, performing, hustling for gigs, traveling, mixing, creating music live or produced, it all requires creativity. Sometimes, we feel constrained by certain circumstances, and we don’t feel like we get to express our creativity the way we want to. But we still need to use our creativity to resolve those situations, even if they are not ideal. 

The musician is always being creative. I think if we stop being creative, we die. Or a part of us dies, and we feel like we are “off our path” doing something that doesn’t feel in alignment with who we are as people. This creative impulse is super important. Rick Rubin talks a lot about how some people need to generate money a different way than through art and this can actually help save the creative spark by being free to do what you want with it and not be constrained by economics. In general, this interplay of creativity and making a living is probably the biggest challenge to being an artist, and each artist has to find their own unique way to solve that obstacle. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I feel that right now is a unique and special time to be in the music field. There is a huge interest in International, Global, and World music right now. The interplay of different sounds is very dynamic and sought after in a wide variety of context. I’ve always been open to different sounds and tones. Even completely different tuning systems that are found around the world, such as in Bali or Java in the Gamelan. 

My background in Raga and Tala has developed my ear and mind to hear and listen for these sounds. I feel like I bring a unique set of skills to a production project or live event. 

Another cool thing that is happening is a wider interest in Ambient, Sound Healing, Meditation Music, and other modalities that have sometimes been described as New Age music, although that moniker is not embraced by all artists making that kind of music. I think the root of these ideas are often about resonance. Examples are Tibetan Bowls, Crystal Bowls, Gongs, and Ambient sounds that create a deeper sense of listening and awareness in the audience. This is very interesting to me especially with my background in Yogic chanting, kirtan, and mantra music. 

I believe in the healing power of music and have seen it play out in my life and the lives of my friends, family, students, peers, and fans alike. 

What’s next?
I’m very excited for a number of projects coming out in 2024. There is a fabulous electronic track coming out in April with exciting young producers Bloomurian & The Great Medicine Show called “Love From Way Out,” which chronicles an intergalactic love story. I love sci-fi! This one is going to be fun. 

The next album coming is titled Santhi with Grammy winner Jim “Kimo” West, who also is the lead guitar player for Weird Al Yankovic! This is a follow-up album to our 2022 “Aum Akua,” released by Be Why Music which got on a number of Editorial Playlists, Internet, spa, and world radio shows and did very well. We can’t wait to release this one! It has a gentle vibe that is reminiscent of Balinese Gamelan with a variety of world instruments, including Ngoni (a relative of Kora), Tablas, Handpan, Ipu Heke, Bansuri, and many beautiful textures and sounds. 

Beyond that, stay connected for more collaborations and sonic odysseys. My tour continues in the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, and The Big Bear Yoga Festival in October 2024. 

Contact Info:

• Website: http://jossjaffe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jossjaffe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jossjaffemusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jossjaffe
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/jossjaffe
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/dubmantra

Image Credit

Mariana Schulze