Jami Sieber

Country of origin:

U.S.

Type of music generally:

Ambient and dynamic acoustic and electric cello music

Status:

Most recent release, Unspoken: The Music of Only Breath (2008)

See also:

Jami Sieber's site

Jami Sieber's MySpace page

Jamie Sieber is?/was? part of the band, Rumors of the Big Wave

Comparisons:

Not aware of other solo cellists out there producing music, but I'm sure they're out there. Some people have made comparisons to a portion of Laurie Anderson's work (but not her performance art music)

Covers/own material:

Own, occasional covers

General comments:

Sieber is a cellist who has played with several ecto favourites, including Susan Court and Sohre. She uses both electric and acoustic cellos to bring a range to her own instrumental compositions. (Neile)

Jami Sieber plays electric cello (laurie anderson anyone?) and does it well. It's just the idea of electric stringed instruments that usually are used for chamber music make me think of (laurie anderson. And something about some of the arrangements make me feel that she's got to at least like Ms. Anderson. There's a similar arrangement? Or something. (brad@lightfallsdesign.com)

Comments about live performance:

I was completely bowled over by her when I saw her performing with Ferron in 1995. I thought Jami was fantastic. (neal)

Recommended first album:

A reader suggests Hidden Sky as the best starting place, saying it "integrates Sieber's cello with music improvised by elephants at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, and the result is surprisingly beautiful."

Recordings:

• Lush Mechanique (1994)
• Second Sight (1998)
• Hidden Sky (2004)
• Only Breath (2007)
• Unspoken: The Music of Only Breath (2008)

Lush Mechanique

Release info:

1994—Out Front Music

Availability:

See Jami Sieber's site

Ecto priority:

Recommended

Group members:

Jami Sieber—Jensen electric cello, acoustic cello, and vocals

Guest artists:

Will Dowd—drums, percussion, and sampling Louis Peralta—percussion, and cuicas (what is this?) Kim Scanlon—vocals

Comments:

Lush Mechanique is lovely. I've really enjoyed it since buying it when I saw her live in 1995. (neal)

lots of nice instrumental work with some nice haunted vocal bits behind it. I'm still enjoying it but, I'm not "grabbed" by it as much as I was the first twenty or so listens. (brad@lightfallsdesign.com)

Second Sight

Release info:

1998—Out Front Music—OFM 1009

Availability:

See Jami Sieber's site

Ecto priority:

Recommended

Group members:

Jami Sieber—vocals, acoustic and electric cello

Guest artists:

Joe Hadlock—grandma geurts' organ
Ben Smith—drums
Jay Thomas—trumpet
Erika Luckett—nylon-string guitar
Julie Wolf—vocals, piano, grandma geurts' organ
Nova Devonie—accordion
Don Benedictson—electric bass
Hans Teubert—soprano sax, tenor sax
Ben Smith—dancing percussion
Paula K. Stentz—udu, sticks on congas, congas, djembe, drum programming
Marilyn Miller—vocals
Garnet Hundley—vocals
Rhiannon—solo vocals
Cary Black—acoustic bass
Charlie Murphy—vocals
Tor Dietrichson—tablas, dumbek
Om Jahari—ethereal vocal

Produced by:

Jamie Sieber

Comments:

A little unshapely (not exactly sure what I mean by that) but still has some nice moments. The moodiness of the cello is one of the strengths of this disc, but there is a variety of sound here. A couple of tracks where she does spoken word definitely remind me of Laurie Anderson, but the focus here is on instrumental music with vocalizations (occasionally there's actual singing), and it's really quite lovely. A little new Agey in the lyrics and some of the music. (Neile)

Further info:

Jami Sieber contributes music to the video game, Braid.

Thanks to JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry and to Chris Powell for additional information.