5 Questions With Jeremy Ashbourne

Local live-music lovers should be familiar with the steadfast staging of The Jam is Back. Spearheaded by career musician Jeremy Ashbourne and supported by a wide swathe of accomplished and aspiring local musicians and performers, the event takes place each Thursday night at The Pallet off Constant Spring Road in St Andrew.

Centred by a trap set, musicians linger in the audience and beside the makeshift stage, waiting for their turn at the mic stand. Jazz, reggae, blues, and folk all permeate from the small patio-turned-performance platform. Ashbourne has been intricately involved in planning, organising and sustaining this indefinite jam session since its early days at Tony’s Bar on Chelsea Avenue.

His dedication to keeping an open, inviting, boundless live-music space is admirable and noteworthy, pulling the company of acts like J Summa and Lila Ike.

In 5 Questions With this week, Ashbourne speaks about his motivations and why The Jam is Back is one of Kingston’s best-kept secrets.

Why are live music spaces necessary?

There are more reasons why live-music spaces are necessary than I have the space to talk about here, but I’ll highlight the most important ones to me. The alchemical act of one or more people creating nothing less than momentary musical magic, whether that be in a small, intimate club or a large arena, speaks to the most quintessential aspects of the human experience.

Sharing in a moment of human emotion, intention and expression, sometimes suspending the sense of one’s own reality or, inversely, enhancing it by creating an atmosphere where no matter who you are or where you come from, one can feel like they’re a part of a greater whole, living, breathing and enjoying the moment together. It’s an important aspect of people feeling like they belong to a community and have a space to be inspired, and feel replenished and invigorated by that which connects us all and makes us the creative beings we are, the energy in the frequencies and vibrations.

In a modern world where we are growing increasingly disconnected from each other, from spirit, from love and unity, live-music spaces and events are extremely necessary in counteracting this disturbing trend towards unnatural isolation and existing anywhere but in the present moment.

The Jam is Back is a profitless live-music space, at least monetarily. But it is reliably staged on a weekly basis. What keeps it going?

The spirit of this event is coming from the original jam at Tony’s Bar in New Kingston, and the primary thing that keeps it going is love, love for live music and love for the sense of community it inspires.

It is difficult to sustain independent and free live-music events here in Jamaica because generally, both the private sector and the government organisations don’t want to invest what’s truly necessary to keep them going and for all parties to feel fairly compensated. A lot of the smaller-scale events that happen are a labour of love. Somewhere along the line, there are at least a few people absorbing the costs related to the money that isn’t being made. The team at the Pallet restaurant – Ricardo, Shea and Scottie – however, understand the intention and energy which motivate the community of performers, and we have a great relationship with them and an arrangement that allows the event to happen on a weekly basis and for the bare minimum to get covered to make it happen (equipment and a host house band).

We are working on trying to expand the offering and the concept in order for it to be more profitable for all involved, and also for it to be a space that can support acts by offering paid gigs, and we’re already making great progress in that direction, but to be honest, if it weren’t for my own personal sacrifice and the dedication of the core set of musicians involved, it wouldn’t happen ... and what a boring state of affairs that would be. Big up to all of the Jamaican musicians who keep live music going, even though they’re not being properly compensated.

Many may not be aware that you are behind many local jingles. What are some of your most recognisable ones?

Probably one of my most successful jingles to date has been the Jamaica Environment Trust’s ‘Nuh Dutty Up Jamaica’ campaign, which has been running for about five years now in different variations. The nice thing about working in advertising is that only the people that need to know who you are know that you make that music. A lot of people have heard multiple works of mine and have no clue that I’m the one behind it (and I like it like that). I wouldn’t even know where to start in terms of listing some of my other ones. One can Google ‘Jam Rock Jingles’ to hear some more of my corporate music if they’re interested.

Who have you been working with lately? Is there any exciting music in the pipeline?

There is always exciting music in the pipeline! Right now, I’m working on finishing the debut albums of two bands that are close to my heart, Eye of the Brainstorm and Earth and the Fullness, but I’m also constantly working on my own new music and career as a film composer. I just did a rendition of a Negro spiritual for a dual short film titled Marathon & Black Bodies, produced in Toronto, with a great up-and-coming artiste named Fyaado. You can also hear some of my compositions on Storm Saulter’s new movie Sprinter, which will hopefully Premier in Jamaica soon.

You have been recruited by international acts. Tell us some of your most surprising credits.

I haven’t done as many International collaborations to date as I’d like to have done, and quite a few of the ones that I have done are with more obscure and not-that-well-known producers and musicians. Some of my biggest international credits so far, though, are with Canadian band Arcade Fire and American-Jamaican engineer David Kennedy. Stay tuned for more to come, though, as my sights are set pretty high.

Bonus: Koffee was the sensation of 2018. Are there any acts you’re hoping will gain some recognition in 2019?

Any artiste or band that deals with love, upliftment, positivity and unity!