Jeff Sherman (musician)

Jeff Sherman
Jeff Sherman, 1979
Background information
Birth name	Jeffrey Edward Sherman
Born	(1952-03-15) March 15, 1952 (age 65) Seattle, Washington
Genres	Progressive rock, Experimental, Folk music, Rock music
Occupation(s)	Musician, Composer
Instruments	Bass Guitar, Rhodes piano, Keyboards, Bass pedals, Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar, Saxophone, Cello, Accordion, Vocals, Tapes, Synthesizers, Mellotron
Years active	1966 – present
Labels	Musea Records, Relentless Pursuit Records, Entropy Records, Grand West Records (MGM)
Associated acts	Glass, The Outcasts, The Vaguest Notion, Changer, Straw Dogs, The Sherman Brothers Band, The Drive, The Promise, Jeff Joad and the Joads, Alan Rench and The ViceGrips, The Chimes Of Freedom
Website	Jeff Sherman official website

Jeffrey Edward Sherman (born March 15, 1952) is an American musician. He is a founding member of the band Glass, as well as a solo artist who has released both under his own name and under the pseudonym Jeff Joad.

Four years after Jeff Sherman was born in Seattle, his father an electrical engineer for Seattle City Light, moved his wife and family to the tiny Skagit Valley town of Diablo in the North Cascades of Washington. This wilderness town mentioned in Jack Kerouac's 1958 novel The Dharma Bums was built by Seattle City Light as part of the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project for their employees. Qualified engineers were needed so as an enticement, free rent and utilities were offered in addition to the opportunity to raise a family in a pristine natural setting. Jeff, his brother Greg and their sister Janis grew up literally in the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains. Jeff began his formal musical training in Diablo in the early ‘60s, taking accordion lessons from a family friend at age eight. When the Sherman family moved to Port Townsend (on the Olympic Peninsula) in 1964, Jeff taught himself to play the electric guitar and, in the spirit of the times, soon formed the first of many bands. When the bass player in one of these bands quit, Jeff switched to the bass guitar, which eventually became his main composing tool for progressive music. In Port Townsend High School, Jeff played saxophone in the school concert band and cello in the school orchestra. As a senior he wrote “Euphoria 17,” an experimental avant-garde classical piece premiered by the school orchestra along with his keyboardist brother Greg, and their childhood friend drummer Jerry Cook. Jeff had just turned 17.

Jeff, Greg and Jerry were by this time already performing as a rock and roll cover band called The Vaguest Notion. On September 6, 1968 they traveled to Seattle to attend a Jimi Hendrix concert. One of the opening acts for the concert was a British band called The Soft Machine. The Soft Machine was a trio (consisting at the time of Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt and Mike Ratledge) but with an entirely new sound. The boys left the concert determined to pursue a new direction.