I want to thank Nigel J. Farmer at Jazz In Europe for publishing this interview with Tony, Kevin and me. I’m also thrilled to see that it’s been read over 10k times. Here’s an excerpt from the interview, to read the full Interview click here.
TJP, spreading Peace and Love
A few years ago I was presented with a CD by Philadelphia based band The Jost Project. The CD titled “Can’t Find My Way Home” included jazz interpretations of rock/pop classics including Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” and Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”. I was immediately struck by the creativity of the arrangements and the quality of the performances, in fact I realised I was purely listening to the music without once mentally referring back to the original.
The seeds for the formation of the band were planted with vibraphonist Tony Miceli’s 2005 recording “Hippie Jazz”. Not long after the vocalist Paul Jost was added to the line-up and the Jost Project was a fact.
Earlier this year the band shortened their name from “The Jost Project” to the initials TJP and returned to the studio to record their 2nd album. On the eve of the release of the new CD “Peace and Love” I had the opportunity to speak with the band to discuss their approach to re-arranging this repertoire, reaching new audiences and what’s to come.