Coffin’s artistry lies in the way he finds a voice for his soul across the palette of a variety of instruments. He is primarily a sax player but his expression is broadened by applying different instruments of the flute and saxophone families and then expanding the horizon by including electronic versions of both instruments family sets. As a result the boundaries of soundscape are limitless and there is a truly vocal experience. Just as the voice can make more sounds than just words for speech, Jeff’s music’s voices are as rich and excitingly varied.
His way of making music happen has been shared in his playing with The Dave Matthews band and Bela Fleck & The Flecktones. The emotional experience is always on an edge. The sound is a uniquely memorable event with spaces, and then waves of phrases that play with a playground for the mind with dynamics stretched to a maximum of effect. This is all just as the voice can make sounds, and mimic and tease, play and hold attention.
Jeff Coffin’s is a palette of the colors of surprise.