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J S Kingfisher: Bio
Recent History. J S Kingfisher – Jeff – is a composer, lyricist, poet, recording artist, and inventor living in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California. His first album, Floating Upstream, was released in 1993, followed by Vesica Piscis in 1998. In 2002 he founded Philomuse, and produced and released John Steiner's Out of the Blue.
In 2004, Jeff began work on a system of divination based on music called the Muzoracle. On August 1, 2008, the Muzoracle -- and it's companion product, the Musician's Dice -- were launched. 2009 saw another album from John Steiner, Into the Green, and a game of skill and chance for musicians called Muzundrum. In 2010, he produced John Steiner's third album for Philomuse, Impressions. 2011 finds Kingfisher at work on two solo projects: The Stranger, a dark and spare compilation of jazz and carnivalesque; and Upon Awakening, a blend of music, poetry, and spoken word.
The Stone Age. J S Kingfisher – Jeff Siegel at the time – entered the world at 7:18 pm on July 23rd, 1958 in Sacramento, California (Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon, Capricorn rising.) Musically, he was influenced early on by the big band and country swing records of his parents, and by the records passed on to him by his older cousins: Meet the Beatles and Rubber Soul, the Stones' Aftermath, Cream's Disraeli Gears, lots of Janis and Motown, and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. His high school years found him heavy into Bowie and glam with the shoes to prove it; in the meantime he discovered fusion, Joni, and THC. Jeff started playing piano and writing songs himself at age 12, and studied organ and classical theory throughout his teens.
Jeff's first professional gig was as a pianist for the notorious Lee Garland Show, a raucous and bawdy review featuring Garland's female impersonations, comedy, and dancers. Throughout his early twenties he played in numerous rock bands, and in 1981 moved to LA. There he attended the Dick Grove School of Music for two years, studying piano, composition, and arranging.This led to a half-dozen years of active session work, much of it from his Hollywood studio, Electric Cat. Meanwhile he continued working on his own stuff, and in 1989 moved up to Northern Cal and began writing the material that would later become Floating Upstream.
Jeff worked throughout the nineties on several multimedia projects, composing for the theatrical productions Both Hands, Kelly's Dream in the Rain, and finally Unity Gain, a well received Bay Area production based on floating upstream that included several musicians and movement artists floating behind a sixty-foot wide projection surface. Continuing in the multimedia vein, Vesica Piscis was accompanied by the interactive Vesica Piscis Labyrinth on the web (currently archived on this site.)
Personal Notes. Jeff's music, writing, and art is heavily influenced by his other esoteric interests, which include dreamwork, divination, mythology, and the Gurdjieff work. He is an avid reader of both fiction and non, is somewhat of a film buff, and has a penchant for British history. He loves to make music and art and spends most of his time doing so; he also likes to cook, and enjoys relaxing with family and close friends. Jeff divides his time between San Francisco, Los Angeles, and his home in the Sierra Nevada. He lives with his longtime partner, Hugh; their beloved Havanese, Ms. Baba Lou Girlie; and their mischievious and delightful cat, Daimon Leonidas Feodor Sprite (aka Mr. Pussbody.)
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