About MeJeff Meleras is a seasoned multi-instrumentalist (guitar, kazoo and six piano chords) and an excellent vocalist with a two-octave range in the tradition of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits.
He was born to a Parisian father and Brooklyn mother and raised in Montreal. His parents met when she took a trip to Paris to escape the American hustle and bustle and one of his mother’s many nice young New York suitors asked his English-speaking Parisian friend to help her find her way around the city. Well, some friend that turned out to be, though you'll be hard pressed to find a nicer man than Jeff's father. The pair were engaged after only six days and are still going strong 55 years later. Jeff has a brother and sister who live in Montreal and is happy to report that he is part of a very close-knit family. Jeff married his law school sweetheart, Laura, and together they have two boys who have both happily and sadly left the nest to pursue university studies. The eldest, Daniel, is a wonderful guitar and ukulele player, and is presently studying physics and mathematics at Concordia University in Montreal, where he is being spoiled by his Montreal family and having a wonderful time. Jeff’s younger son, Jacob, is a musical prodigy studying bassoon and composition at Laurier University. He has a wonderful voice and sang the album's fifth song in the summer of 2011, when he was just 12 years old. Jacob was asked to play bassoon when applying to the Ottawa school of the arts, Canterbury High School, presumably when they discovered that both his parents were lawyers and therefore falsely assumed that they could afford the cost of this beautiful wooden instrument. One way or another a bassoon was acquired and Jacob has become a fantastic player through hard work and perseverance. Laura and Jeff could not be prouder of their two wonderful sons. Jeff is also a diehard baseball fan and still dreams of the day when the Montreal Expos will return and assume their rightful place in major league baseball. He still hasn't forgiven Claude Brochu and whoever else was responsible for the depletion of the wonderful 1994 Expos team and for the ultimate demise of the organization. Jeff would actually consider giving up one of his testicles or one of his unimportant toes for this to actually happen. Jeff was also a decent, yet overrated (by himself) baseball player. He played for the University of Vermont several decades ago, which at the time was quite a subpar Division 1 baseball school, and he also played for the French National Baseball Team as a 16 year old. He and his brother once combined for a four inning 37 hitter in a mercy rule game against the Italian National Baseball team. Jeff still recalls being comforted by the Italian American pros that congratulated him on the number of strikes he threw. One of these strikes left an Italian bat at record speed and must have travelled at least 500 feet. Jeff’s love of music started at a relatively young age. He is embarrassed to indicate however, that despite his absolute love for Rod Stewart’s voice, and although a massive fan of the Small Faces and some of Rod’s better solo work, that the first album he remembers owning is Do you Think I am Sexy, which was bought for him by cousins visiting from Paris. Jeff does not recall specifically asking for that particular album. However he does recall his first real purchase of a rock and roll album, Some Girls. As an 11 year old, he would dance around his living room, blasting that album and singing all the words out loud. He also vividly recalls the day his mother came in yelling at him as he was belting out the slightly racist and misogynistic lines in the song giving rise to the title of the album. Although only 11, debate thus ensued about freedom of expression and artistic license. From there, Jeff moved onto Bob Dylan and the Beatles and for the next half decade hardly listened to anything else. Jeff received his first guitar when he was 13, and is just a little better now than he was within two months of learning his first few chords. Instead of practicing scales and figuring out where everything went on the guitar, he immediately started strumming chords and inventing melodies and lyrics. Some of these became songs, and he can still remember the first song he ever wrote, although surprisingly, it never made an appearance on any of his albums. As Jeff made his way through school, first studying at the University of Vermont and then at the University of Ottawa Law School, he continued to strum the guitar on his own and write a number of songs, which accumulated on cassette tapes. A long time lost, he'd very much like to know where some of those cassette tapes are now, as there are more than likely a few hidden gems that he has completely forgotten. Eventually, after having children, and as they were growing, Jeff joined a group of friends in Ottawa to form a band called Ted’s Head, information on which you will find nowhere on the internet. Jeff named this band Ted’s Head after Ted Williams, whose family is still fighting over his remains. Ted’s head is apparently cryogenically frozen until such time that modern science can bring him back to life. The band eventually became Off the Floor and wrote a fabulous record that was neither pressed nor mastered. Numerous contributors from the band wrote songs and the CD was recorded by the very talented local producer/engineer Jason Jaknunas, who runs Metropolitan Studios. Jeff sang some of the songs for this band, but was hardly ever allowed to pick up his guitar. The band broke up just as the CD was being finished. From there, Jeff recorded his first solo album, Songs from the Couch, with Jason Jaknunas. It was a real experience, which gave him the recording bug. He decided to record his second album live off the floor and for this purpose rented a lovely cottage in Quebec. With food, guitars, microphones and thirty-eight bottles of wine in hand, he and several talented musicians recorded The Cottage Sessions. It featured multiple return players from the first album, and I am pleased to say that due mostly to Jeff's tutelage some of the Cottage Sessions players have gone on to achieve great things locally and outside of Ottawa. The drummer, Matt Sobb, now drums for the excellent Monkey Junk. Pierre Chretien, who also co-produced The Cottage Sessions, leads the uber-talented collective Souljazz Orchestra. Rounding out the band was local bluesman and harp player extraordinaire Al Wood, the great guitar player and song writer Jack Pelletier, who also coproduced the album from the Jupiter Ray Project and the Battle of Ontario, and Chris “Jarhead” Breitner on bass, who has pretty much played with everyone in Ottawa. It was a wonderful experience. From there, Jeff moved to Little Bullhorn Studios run by a local luminary, Dave Draves, where he recorded his third and fourth solo albums, Sell the Farm and Damage, two collections of tales of lost love and humanity's fleeting existence. Once again, Jack Pelletier was an instrumental collaborator who produced the album along with Mr. Draves. Other very talented local musicians, including Michael Ball, Fred Guignon and Peter Von Althen also appeared on this album. To strip things down, Jeff then recorded in 2011 his last solo effort called Damage. This album was recorded entirely with Jack Pelletier and Dave Draves and no other collaborators. It is mostly an acoustic guitar and piano driven album, which also contains songs of the apocalypse, and songs about lost love etc. |
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