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An interview with Jar-e
The Jar-e Quartet plays free shows every Tuesday evening at Tomato in West Asheville; Fridays starting in January. Jar-e's debut album Heartache is available at local music stores and ITunes. For more information, go to www.exoticrecordings.com or call Tomato at 254 - 5046.
 Jon Reid, aka Jar-e, has been playing eclectic music in Asheville for the last six years as a solo artist and as part
of several groups. His debut album, Heartache, was released last month on Exotic Recordings, an independent New York
label that will also soon be releasing an album from Asheville underground music legend J Dimenna.
We caught up with Jar-e recently to talk about his new album, his current work with the Jar-e Quartet,
and his plans for the future.
AD: What inspired you to make Heartache?
Jar-e: I was playing with a group, North of Cuba, and things were going relatively well. But I felt
like there was this part of myself and this part of my life that needed to be addressed and I kind of
went on this self-imposed hiatus. I left everyone I knew and my feeling at the time was I didn't know
if I was ever going to come back. So I went to the beach in the winter and it was a pretty desolate time.
And basically, I looked into the mirror for as long as I needed to figure out where I was going to go next.
That process of looking in the mirror, the process of being on that self-imposed hiatus, was what I was
dealing with in Heartache. The idea I was working with was that to be in this world, with all the sadness,
the loss of love, the tragedy, the sickness in this world, to not have some kind of heartache inside of you
means that you're not alive. So the album was me diving into my heartache and clearly giving myself to it,
going into all those emotions and seeing what would come of it, what would come out on the other side.
AD: Are you happy with how it turned out? Do you think the music ended up being a good reflection of what
you were going through and what you were trying to express?
Jar-e: Very much so. I've been recording on shitty 4-tracks since I was in 6th grade, but having a nicer
home studio situation, I felt like I could put all of myself into one project and really complete it.
And while I don't think it's perfect, I think it is a perfect reflection of where I was at.
AD: What was it like being the only musician and singer on the album? What were the goods and bads of
doing it that way compared to working with a group?
Jar-e: Playing all the instruments on the album was a reflection of me dealing with my solitude. The fun
thing about playing all the instruments was that I got to be the fucking guitar player. I'd come home
in the wee hours of the night and just be like "I want to be a fucking guitar player tonight,"
and I'd rock out guitar. Some nights I was feeling funky and I'd play some bass. Some nights I'd just
want to make a beat, and some nights I'd want to sing layers and layers of shit.
So it was fun to do it. But it was also kind of scary and kind of insane because it was all me and I
didn't understand the technology or the reality of me being able to play with me a thousand times over.
AD: What are some of the influences that have shaped you the most?
Jar-e: Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, Radiohead, Bjork, Erikah Badu, D'Angello, and Keith Jarret.
AD: How would describe the music on Heartache to someone who hasn't heard it?
Jar-e: It's definitely melancholy, and melancholy could be found in Gillian Welch, it could be found in
some Miles Davis, it could be found in sitting in your room by yourself. That's the feeling behind a lot
of the music I'm into Ð melancholy. And there's definitely some funk. All the influences shine through
on the album. I'd say it's the feeling that you have after you've cried your eyes out and balled and
everything feels a bit better and you still have the sadness but at least you've gotten some shit out.
AD: What's the significance of the name "Jar-e"?
Jar-e: It came to me when I was dealing with the fact that I didn't really want to be in a rock n roll
band anymore. I'm much more comfortable with hip hop and with jazz Ð the whole philosophy behind the
musicians playing with each other, the fact that different DJs and MCs come together but there's still an
acknowledgment of what they individually bring to the project. I have a vision and I want the people
playing with me to be part of that vision. But the Jar-e part of it is that the vision doesn't really
come from me. I truly, at the bottom of my heart, feel that the vision and the whole energy behind my
music shines the best when I am empty, when my ego is not getting in the way. And that's what Jar-e is:
jar-empty, jar-everything, a jar as an empty vessel. And it also sounds like my name, Jon Reid.
AD: Tell me about your current group.
Jar-e: I'm playing with a few really great friends and a few really great musicians. It's been my dream
for a long time to play in a jazz-improv-instrumental hip hop funk group where we could not get bogged
down with song writing and covers. Where we just get together and play and develop our ability to play
off of each other and play completely improvised music. And that's what we're doing. We've all played
together before. It helps us improvise a lot and it helps us with our relationship. It's a real integration
of previous musical experiences I've had.
AD: What kind of direction are you going to go in with your next album?
Jar-e: The next album is called War Songs in the Muse. It's definitely influenced by the emotional-political
climate of being back in the U.S. I went and traveled in Europe for a while and didn't think I was going to
come back but I ended up coming back for my friends and the people I love. So that's the ÔWar Songs'
thing, being here. And the ÔMuse' is the inspiration, the women, the beautiful things I love, that
make life worth living. I think it's going to be... I don't know. It'll be interesting.
-Jake Frankel
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