Jeff Sipe began to play drums in the sixth grade. Then In 1975, Jeff’s first stepping stone was attending the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music. — One of Jeff’s dreams finally came true when he was accepted to Berklee in 1977. While at Berklee, Jeff studied under Bob Kaufman and Bill Norine, he attended clinics given by Alan Dawson and was taken under by his mentor Lee Venters. Jeff was lucky enough to attend Berklee with an impressive cast of musicians like Branford Marsalis, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern and Jeff Watts, Kevin Eubanks, Dean Parks, Steve Vai, just to name a few.
While studying at Berklee, Jeff met and played in a band with Steve Vai and Baron Brown called “Winter”. This experience turned Jeff on to a wide world of music and rhythm which gave him valuable tools that he still carries with him today.
After his stay in Boston, Jeff moved to Atlanta in 1983. There he began gigging and teaching at the Atlanta Institute for Music and at a popular hang out for Atlanta drummers, Atlanta Drums and Percussion. Jeff spent time sitting in with local musicians and was introduced to Bruce Hampton through Dan Wall, a keyboardist that he had been playing with…..and that’s the rest of the story. It seemed too fitting that their first meeting took place at a wedding because not only was there a marriage there was a wedding of vast musical intention. Jeff then asked Oteil Burbridge and Jimmy Herring to sit in on this free willed musical band wagon and the Aquarium Rescue Unit was born.
In 1996, Jeff met up with Swedish-born bass extraordinaire Jonas Hellborg and the Memphis guitar monster Shawn Lane. This Trio did many Europoean tours as well as American tours.
GLOBAL FUSION PIONEERS SHAKTI NOMINATED FOR TWO 2026 GRAMMY™ AWARDS
Triumphant Valedictory Album Mind Explosion (50th Anniversary Tour Live) Recognized in theBest Global Music Album and Best Global Music Performance Categories More than half a century ago, Shakti was born of the brotherly love, visionary musicianship, and spiritual synergy that existed between tabla master Zakir Hussain and virtuoso guitarist John McLaughlin. Fifty years later, Shakti stands as a border-defying model of global fusion, influencing generations of musicians with an East/West hybrid so fluid and intuitive that it both encapsulates and […]
Shakti – ‘Mind Explosion’
SHAKTI’S REVELATION OF ONENESS IN DIVERSITY CONCLUDES WITH THE RELEASE OF MIND EXPLOSION–RECORDED LIVE DURING THEIR 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR IN 2023 Boundary-defying quintet’s final recording honors departed co-founder and master percussionist Zakir Hussain with “our greatest achievement,” says fellow founding member John McLaughlin. Shakti did not spend their fiftieth anniversary standing still, idly collecting laurels and accepting tributes for their decades of fearless musical alchemy. Instead, they acknowledged their vast influence with decisive action, recording their first new studio album in more than 45 years –the GRAMMY™ […]
‘THIS MOMENT’ AWARDED WITH GRAMMY
HERE SHE IS. IN PERSON. IN WOOD AND METAL. OUR TROPHY. WITH YOUR HELP. ONE FOR THE AGES. FOR THE MUSIC. THE BRIDGE BETWEEN CULTURES. FOR COMING TOGETHER. THANK YOU TO ALL THE MUSIC FANS. Make sure you take this piece of history home with you – head to our store and get your copy of the historic, Grammy-winning double vinyl album ‘This Moment’.
GRAMMY™ NOMINEE FOR BEST GLOBAL MUSIC ALBUM – SHAKTI’S ‘THIS MOMENT’
Nomination follows rapturously received 50th Anniversary World Tour featuring original group co-founders John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain Shakti, the recently reconvened global fusion trailblazers, have been nominated for the 2024 GRAMMY™ Award for Best Global Music Album for This Moment – the group’s first new studio album in more than 45 years, released on June 30, 2023, on the Abstract Logix label. “After our most successful tour ever of three continents, Shakti gets a GRAMMY nomination for our album This Moment…” […]
GLOBAL FUSION ALCHEMISTS SHAKTI ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
Co-Founders John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain Lead Current Lineup On First U.S. Tour In 16 Years With Special Guests Béla Fleck, Bill Frisell and others on select shows More dates and special guests to be announced at a later date. Feb 6, 2023: Following word of the Summer 2023 release of This Moment – their first new studio album in 46 years – revolutionary world music ensemble Shakti will continue to discover and explore the musical common ground bridging East […]
World Fusion Pioneers- John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain mark 2023 return with Shakti 50th anniversary album and world tour
World Fusion Pioneers- John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain mark 2023 return with Shakti 50th anniversary album and world tour An unprecedented, transcontinental collaboration, Shakti united eastern and western musicians, and in the process forged the template for what is now called “world music.” From the West came virtuoso British guitarist John McLaughlin, who re-wired jazz via his work with Miles Davis and the Tony Williams Lifetime. From the East came visionary tabla player Zakir Hussain, who had accompanied legendary Hindustani […]
Wayne Krantz goes on tour exactly two years after the start of the pandemic
After their world tour during January and February 2020, right before the pandemic, KCL, the iconic, genre-bending powerhouse trio featuring guitarist Wayne Krantz, drummer Keith Carlock and bassist Tim Lefebvre is returning with a string of dates to kick off their “Golden Days” world tour, starting in New York City on Feb 18 at The Bitter End. Cutting live recordings from the club and posting them online in the early days of the internet and touring only sporadically, KCL developed a thoroughly original […]
Podcast with Vinnie Colaiuta and John McLaughlin
Bandcamp Vinnie Colaiuta invited one of the most influential guitarists of our time, John McLaughlin in his podcast Breakfast with Vinnie. A living legend of improvised music, with a career now spanning more than five decades, John McLaughlin opens his heart about how music has been a primary focus of his life and about his wonderful journey till now. He also discussed about his new album, “Liberation Time”, which is all set to release on 16th July, 2021 on Abstract […]
John McLaughlin covers Straight No Chaser by Thelonious Monk for India fundraiser
AN URGENT PLEA FROM JOHN McLAUGHLIN: Guitar icon releases exclusive video to raise awareness and funds for COVID relief in India, asking all to donate to Project Hope today. John McLaughlin has made no secret of the musical and spiritual debt that he owes to the people and nation of India. Whether explicit (the unprecedented east/west hybrid of his beloved Shakti ensemble) or implicit (the daring rhythmic structures he transmitted via the Mahavishnu Orchestra), India has exerted a gravitational pull […]
John McLaughlin announces new album Liberation Time
Preorder the album | Get Free download Bandcamp Recorded remotely during lockdown, new album examines the pandemic era with a provocative mix of catharsis and reflection. A living legend of improvised music, with a career now spanning more than five decades, John McLaughlin is no stranger to translating tumultuous moments into compelling, thoughtful audio art. Witness his searing contributions to Miles Davis’s infamous Jack Johnson sessions, the explosively pioneering rock/jazz hybrid he helped create as a member of the first […]