Album Notes

A one man band in the tradition of Beck, Prince, and Stevie Wonder. From stripped down acoustic compositions recorded in a lo-fi style, to reverb heavy r&b that rolls by like D'Angelo, and onto sweet jazz-funk reminiscent of Lenny Kravitz's early work, Jar-e's debut album "Heartache" takes you on a journey through the blues.

An accomplished multi-instrumentalist, proficient on upright bass, trumpet, piano, and guitar, Jar-e opted against jazz music school and attended Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. There, he began playing in a band with current label-mate, J DiMenna in a five piece jazz-hip-hop-rock band called ooloo orchestra. The band would switch around on different instruments from guitars to horns and regularly invite MCs, poets, and others to improvise over their genre-defying mix of elements. After college, now a fixture on the eclectic Asheville, NC scene, he moved on to front the Jar-e Quartet and eventually peaked the interest of CT based label, Exotic Recordings who invited the group to New York City for their first artist showcase.

The show gave birth to a marathon 28-hour recording session which resulted in a scorching three song demo that recalled everything from early Bob Marley to Rhodes-heavy soul-rock like Medeski, Martin and Wood.

Determined to pursue his own path in music, Jar-e left Asheville and the quartet to spend six months in Europe, absorbing sounds from Spain to Greece. Finding what he thought was true love (or something of that nature), he eventually set up shop in London and asked the folks at Exotic to send his 8 track so he could begin tweaking the tracks that made up his debut album, Heartache. They complied immediately. But immediately turned out to be too soon.

The love he found in London had quickly turned sour and sent him packing for the states, crossing paths with his 8 track in the air. When the deserted love was presented with the package, she refused it, sending his precious songs on a 3 month, untraceable journey back to the United States.

After much deliberation, Exotic decided to do an exclusive digital release of Heartache with the tracks in their original form, capturing the essence of the bedroom genius, while Jar-e bought a 16 track and began recording his second album.

Now, a regular performer at Asheville venue, Tomato, Jar-e is growing his hometown following and gearing up for a sophomore release on Exotic in 2005.