JAZMO
New York - United States

Longtime partners DAVE TOY (guitar) and MIKE O’KEEFE (drums, keys) had been writing and producing music in DfStudios for decades after moving on from their electronic project “Dress For Success” and original rock followup DfS. Dress for Success was an 80′s fixture in such N.Y.C. venues as CBGBs and The Ritz promoting their eponymous 1985 album. 2005 found the two friends still dedicated to their music but in need of lyrics for their tunes.


ENTER JEFF LASDON. A retired promoter from Boulder, Colorado, LASDON was eager to share his poetry from his days of study with Beat Poets Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. Words hidden away for 30 years were the genesis of a marriage between LASDON, TOY and O’KEEFE. In LASDON the two original JAZMO players had adopted an illegitimate child who would eventually morph from wordsmith to songwriter to performer.

Through a generous dose of patience TOY and O’KEEFE allowed LASDON to fulfill his childhood fantasy of playing in a rock n’ roll band. On a dare from a handful of fans a performance was planned. Call in old friend and renaissance bassist PAUL MAGLIARI, seasoned pros AL ORLO on guitar (Ben E. King) and CHARLIE LAGOND on Sax (Kid Creole and the Coconuts) and JAZMO is a living breathing experiment gone awry! Operatically trained and downtown rock songbird, BIRDY, has given the JAZMO songwriters a true rock ‘n roll diva. The songs written expressly for BIRDY are hits waiting to happen. This egg incubated by JAZMO and were ready to crack promises to produce a bird of another feather. Two sold out performances at Les Paul’s home base the revered Iridium Club in NYC proved the concept.


The members in JAZMO are the boys your mother would not want you to hang out with after school but would serve you well to sit next to on exam day! They are the reasons tigers eat their young and the Cheshire Cat smiles. JAZMO will always remember The Maine and you will never know what they’ve forgotten. They enjoy regular visits to the lairs of non-existent dragons as well as the dark corners where black cats take no refuge.

Exposed

Label: Self-Released