Born in Boston, MA to folk-hippy parents, Sam Jaffe was captured by music and the arts at a very early age. Learning how to play guitar and piano from his mother at age 5, he gravitated towards the great artists of his parents’ generation; singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Joni Mitchel, and Paul Simon, and classic rock acts such as The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles. He says, ”it seems now that my earliest memories are musical. Whether it was riding in the car with my mom at age 3 or 4 and singing along with Get Back at the top of my lungs, or singing If I Had A Hammer with my pre-school teachers… there was just always music around, and I love thinking of that now”.
At 15, toting his acoustic guitar, notebook of songs, and cab fare, Sam started gaining notoriety around New England\'s coffee houses, clubs, and college campuses. After high school in Cape Cod, he went south to study music at the esteemed University of Miami School of Music, majoring in classical voice and jazz composition. It was in these years that he started to combine his roots in folk and rock with his education of jazz and world music, which is evident today in the textures and rhythms that flow through his song’s arrangements. While still in school, he was performing constantly around the Southeast USA, both solo and with a full band. These performances garnered critical, national attention including write-ups in Billboard and Musician Magazine and professional endorsement contracts with Taylor Guitars, D\'Addario Strings, and Line 6.
In March ’05 Sam completed his first full-length CD, “Something To Fall Back On”, which he wrote, arranged, produced, recorded, and performed vocals, guitars, keyboards, harmonica, percussion, and did the string programming. In addition, the record features world-renowned musicians Vinnie Colaiuta on drums (Sting, Herbie Hancock, Frank Zappa, etc), Jim McGorman on guitars and keyboards (Avril Lavigne, New Radicals), Derek Frank on bass (Jonatha Brooke, Just Listen), along with other top L.A. session players. “Something to Fall Back On” was mixed by Marc DeSisto (U2, Stevie Nicks, Michelle Branch) and mastered by Bill Dooley (Madonna, Motley Crue, Deftones).
“Something To Fall Back On” has received rave reviews, and is currently selling very well on iTunes and CDBaby. Sam\'s music has been featured on TV, film, and the internet, and his voice can be heard singing national commercial “jingles” for top music production companies nationwide. Sam was featured on the hit FOX television show, “The OC”, playing keyboards in a scene with the show’s star, Peter Gallagher, and also playing acoustic guitar and singing on The WB’s hit show “Summerland”. \"Something To Fall Back On\" currently receives play US college radio, XM & Sirius radio, European radio play in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy, and France, as well as Canadian radio on CBC Ottawa. Caffeine Clothing has signed Jaffe to an endorsement deal and uses the single “Strong Enough” as the lead-off track on their compilation CD. MTV & VH1 licensed the entire record to use on several of their tv shows. In May and June ‘05, Jaffe performed in Brazil to over 65,000 people per show as a main-stage headliner for the Coca Cola Vibezone Festivals in Sau Paulo and Rio. Jaffe was the only international act invited to play, and the only artist performing for all four nights of the Festival. He recently was the only American artist asked to contribute a song for the European release \"A Timeless Vibration - Tribute to Bob Marley\" on the German Afrikool label. Sam\'s solo acoustic version of \"Is This Love\" was the 1st single off the record. (look for the American release soon).
Having gotten tired of \"the LA thing\", Sam now lives on the water in Florida with his wife, Heidi, and son, Miles. He has taken a break from touring, and is writing and recording new material. Stay tuned...
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