Rami Jaffee

Last updated

Rami Jaffee
Rami Jaffee 1.jpg
Jaffee in 2017
Background information
Born (1969-03-11) March 11, 1969 (age 55)
OriginLos Angeles, United States
Genres Rock
OccupationMusician
Instruments
  • Keyboards
  • accordion
  • harmonica
Years active1989–present
Member of
Formerly of
Website www.ramijaffee.com

Rami Jaffee (born March 11, 1969) is an American musician. He is the keyboardist for the rock band Foo Fighters, whom he initially joined in a touring and session capacity in 2005. He has contributed to seven of the band's studio albums, and formally joined the band as a full-time member in 2017.

Contents

Prior to joining Foo Fighters, Jaffee was a member of The Wallflowers from 1990 to 2005, and again from 2012 to 2013. He has worked with many artists including Pete Yorn, Stone Sour, Joseph Arthur and Coheed and Cambria.

Early life

Jaffee was born on March 11, 1969, to a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish father and a Moroccan Sephardic Jewish mother in Los Angeles. [2] When he was 13, he purchased a keyboard and was soon playing with local bands. After graduating from Fairfax High School, he continued to play in various bands, and he took session work in recording studios. [3]

Career

Around 1989, Jakob Dylan and his friend Tobi Miller formed a group called the Apples, playing various clubs in the L.A. area. While waiting in line at Canter's Deli after 2:00 am, Jaffee heard the Apples wanted an organist and pianist, and he was told that Dylan and Miller were then in the Kibitz Room bar attached to Canter's. They met; Dylan and Miller played Jaffee some demo tapes in their car stereo, and Jaffee immediately joined the group. A few weeks later, they changed their name to the Wallflowers and signed with Virgin Records. In 1992, they released their first album, The Wallflowers. [3] The Wallflowers toured throughout the U.S. and Canada in 1992 and early 1993. They served as the opening act for Cracker, the Spin Doctors and 10,000 Maniacs, and they started headlining their own shows. [3]

Virgin appeared to lose interest in the Wallflowers because of poor album sales. The band's two familiar label representatives left the label, after which the record company tried to use the Dylan name as a selling point, against the band's directive. In mid-1993, the label released the band from their contract. [3] Other labels were not interested in signing the band, and Jaffee filled his time by playing gigs with El Vez as well as taking more session work. He kept his interest in the Wallflowers, saying later, "I believe in these songs, and I'm here for the duration because no one is writing songs like these anymore, songs that have room for a Hammond organ and me." [3]

The Wallflowers signed to Interscope Records in 1994. While working with T Bone Burnett, who was producing the band's next album, Jaffee was frequently called in as a session musician for producers Paul Fox, Matt Hyde and Rick Neigher. Because of this, in 1996 he was credited on albums by Rickie Lee Jones, the Hookers, Leah Andreone and Chalk FarM. At the same time, the Wallflowers released their second album, Bringing Down the Horse , which went quadruple Platinum. [3] The band toured in support of the album, but in 1997, Jaffee and his wife had a daughter, and he left the tour to be with his family for two months. That same year, he performed session work with Everclear, Grant Lee Buffalo, Richie Sambora, Macy Gray, Jeremy Toback, Joe Henry, Melissa Etheridge, Ramsay Midwood and Garth Brooks. [3]

The Wallflowers received a Grammy nomination in 1998 for "Heroes" which appeared in the film Godzilla . In late 2000, the band released Breach . The band headlined their own tour for a year but also opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Who and John Mellencamp. [3] Following this, the Wallflowers released Red Letter Days , touring again during 2002–2003. [3] With a new drummer, the band released Rebel, Sweetheart , their fifth album, on May 24, 2005. The Wallflowers toured to promote the album, but Jaffee disagreed with the band, and he abandoned the tour with three dates remaining. [4]

In 2005, Jaffee began collaborating with Foo Fighters. He was made an official member in 2017. [5]

Jaffee led the house band on The Fran Drescher Show and, as of 2010, co-owned a recording studio called Fonogenic Studios in the San Fernando Valley. [6]

In 2012 and 2013, Jaffee was a member of the Sound City Players, a supergroup formed by Dave Grohl that, in addition to appearing in Grohl's 2013 documentary, Sound City , played a limited number of tour dates in 2013. The Sound City Players consisted of a rotating number of artists including Grohl, Jaffee, Stevie Nicks, Alain Johannes, Paul McCartney, Rick Springfield, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor, Krist Novoselic and more.

In 2012, Jaffee returned to the Wallflowers, who were coming off a long hiatus. [4] They released the album Glad All Over in 2012 and toured in support of it that year and also in 2013. Jaffee then left the band again. [7]

Discography (partial)

YearGroupTitleLabelInstrument
1992 The Wallflowers The Wallflowers Virgin Piano, Hammond Organ
1993 Darlene & Co Absence of UniformitySovereign–
1994 El Vez How Great Thou Art Sympathy for the Record Industry Hammond Organ
Fun in EspañolSympathy for the Record IndustryHammond Organ
Victoria Williams Loose Atlantic Hammond Organ
1995 Edwin McCain Honor Among Thieves Lava/AtlanticHammond Organ
1996 Tina & the B-Side Movement Salvation Sire/Elektra Piano, Hammond Organ, Farfisa
El Vez Never Been To Spain (Until Now)MunsterKeyboards
Phil Cody The Sons of Intemperance Offering Interscope Piano, Accordion, Hammond Organ, Mellotron
The Wallflowers Bringing Down the Horse InterscopeOrgans, Pianos
Chalk FarM Notwithstanding Columbia Accordion
Leah Andreone Veiled RCA Organ
The Hookers CalicoRCAPiano, Accordion, Hammond Organ
Rickie Lee Jones Music from Party of Five Reprise –
1997 The Wallflowers KCRW Rare on Air, Vol. 3 Mammoth Piano
The Honeyrods The Honeyrods Capricorn Piano, Wurlitzer
Everclear So Much for the Afterglow Capitol Vox Organ
Uma Fare Well Refuge Piano, Hammond Organ, Vox Organ, Optigan
Soul Asylum I Know What You Did Last Summer Sony Columbia–
Andy If Road TripCU–
1998 Richie Sambora Undiscovered Soul Mercury Accordion, Hammond Organ, Clapping, Optigan
Agents of Good Roots One by OneRCAOrgan
Esthero Breath From Another Sony/WorksOptigan
The Wallflowers Godzilla: The Album Epic/Sony–
Scott Thomas Band CaliforniaElektra–
Grant Lee Buffalo Jubilee Slash/Warner–
1999ChlorinePrimer Time Bomb/BMG Keyboards
Matt Brown Morning After Medicine Show EMI Uncle Green, released 2011Keyboards
2000 The Wallflowers (Breach) InterscopeKeyboards, Vibraphone, Backing vocals
2002 Red Letter Days InterscopeKeyboards
2005 Foo Fighters In Your Honor RCA Records/RoswellKeyboards
The Wallflowers Rebel, Sweetheart InterscopeKeyboards
2006 Willie Nile Streets of New York 00:02:59/ReincarnateHammond Organ
Foo Fighters Skin and Bones RCA Records Piano, Organ, Accordion, Keyboard
Pete Yorn Westerns EP RED Ink/ColumbiaB-3 Organ, Production
2007 Mike Brown & the Fart Face Band American Hotel Oasis Entertainment Hammond Organ, Keyboard
Coheed and Cambria Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow Columbia Records Synthesisers, Piano [8]
Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace RCA Records Accordion, Keyboard
2008 The Fallen Stars Where the road bends Kiss My Squirrel Records Hammond Organ, Keyboard, Accordion, Producer
2010 The Fallen Stars Heart Like Mine Kiss My Squirrel Records Hammond Organ, Keyboard, Accordion
2011 Foo Fighters Wasting Light RCA Records Keyboards, Organ, Mellotron
2012 The Wallflowers Glad All Over Columbia/InterscopeKeyboards
2013 Joseph Arthur The Ballad of Boogie Christ Lonely Astronaut Records Organ
Chuck Ragan Till Midnight SideOneDummy Keyboard, Glockenspiel, Accordion
2014 Gunash Same Old Nightmare Go Down Records Hammond Organ
Foo Fighters Sonic Highways RCA Records Keyboards
2015 Foo Fighters Saint Cecilia (EP) RCA RecordsKeyboards
2016 Gunash SuperHeroes In Town (EP) Go Down Records Hammond Organ, Keyboards
2017 Gunash Great Expectations Go Down RecordsHammond Organ, Keyboards, Artistic Producer
Foo Fighters Concrete and Gold RCA Records Keyboards
2021 Medicine at Midnight
2021 Fury In The Slaughterhouse Now (Song "Letter To Myself") Starwatch Entertainment
2022 Dream Widow Dream Widow RCA Records
2023 Foo Fighters But Here We Are

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References

  1. ↑ Deville, Chris (March 25, 2022). "Dave Grohl Releases Metal EP As Fictional Band Dream Widow". Stereogum . Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  2. ↑ Simon Yaffe (2012). "The Wallflowers' Reunion Was Ideal Topping For Rami". Jewish Telegraph .
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "The Wallflowers Bios – Rami Jaffee". The Wallflowers. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Aushenker, Michael (October 4, 2012). "A Foo Fighter and a Wallflower: Rami Jaffee". The Malibu Times. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Dave Grohl Officially Declares Rami Jaffee The Sixth Member Of The Foo Fighters". WAAF. June 5, 2017. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  6. ↑ "New Fran Drescher Talk Show". The Daily Truffle. Archived from the original on November 27, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Palm Desert | music - Rami Jaffee Leads All-Star Band Appearance at Saxony Group Fashion Week El Paseo". Palm Springs Life. March 19, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  8. ↑ Mentioned in Album Booklet for Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow
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