While only running on a few hours of sleep would stop most people, it doesn’t stop Physics teacher Mr. Jamison Maley as he walks to the Music Conservatory for the guitar club’s weekly jam.
Mr. Maley greets his fellow musicians with a kind, “Oh, Hello” and a small wave, then sets down his guitar case.
He walks over to one of the room’s two pianos and plays a few soulful chords that serve as the catalyst for the day’s soul-inspired funk jam—the Club’s first jam of the day.
Mr. Maley then opens his guitar case to reveal his Gibson Les Paul Studio.
While Mr. Maley’s musical journey began when his mother placed him in piano lessons at Settlement Music School in Northwest Philadelphia, the Les Paul Studio was the upgrade from Mr. Maley’s first guitar: a Univox imitation of a Gibson ES 335. Mr. Maley got the Univox in high school from Howard Herbert’s Music in Northeast Philadelphia on Frankford Avenue—a store long gone.
After getting his hands on that first guitar, Mr. Maley was bit by the musical bug. When he was eighteen, he saved up all summer to buy his Les Paul Studio, one of his favorite guitars.
After getting his hands on that first guitar, Mr. Maley was bit by the musical bug. When he was eighteen, he saved up all summer to buy his Les Paul Studio, one of his favorite guitars. He bought it from Sentinelese Music in Frankfurt. While the store was somewhat questionable in terms of reliability, Mr. Maley couldn’t refuse the great deal.
While Sixth Form pianist Matty Jones continues playing Mr. Maley’s soul-inspired chords, Sixth Former William Walker gets on the drum kit and lays down a groovy beat, and a guitarist’s volume swells. Mr. Maley picks up the Les Paul Studio and begins.
The quartet is off.
Coming from South Philadelphia, Mr. Maley’s love of music originates from his mother, an avid fan of doo-wop and soul. When the two would drive to Maley’s grandparents’ house, they would listen to doo-wop music. As a young boy, Mr. Maley took a liking to his mother’s small but tasteful record collection.
As soon as Mr. Maley heard the Temptations’ 1970 album Greatest Hits Volume 2, he was hooked. He was blown away by everything—from the sleek black suits they dressed in to the heavy bass lines, tasteful guitar, and conga drums. Mr. Maley became a fan overnight.
As he plays during Friday’s clubs period, Mr. Maley channels that same passion.
Later on, Mr. Maley switches guitars to his tried-and-true Ibanez RG—a guitar he acquired when he was nineteen.
Like many other guitar enthusiasts, Mr. Maley was fascinated with the Floyd Rose tremolo system and all of the technical avenues it opened up for the guitar heroes of the ’80s.
The locking tremolo system allowed the radical use of the whammy bar to manipulate the pitch of all the guitar’s strings at once. This invention stemmed in part from Jimi Hendrix’s radical use of a standard non-locking tremolo. Hendrix also had a substantial influence on Mr. Maley.
Sitting in his mother’s car in the parking lot of Northeast Philadelphia supermarket Genuardi’s, Mr. Maley heard Jimi Hendrix on the radio for the first time. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Now, Mr. Maley channels some of his 1970s Hendrix whammy techniques on his Ibanez RG.
At this point, the quartet shifts their jam into a ’70s Led Zeppelin-esque classic rock jam. Again, Mr. Maley channels his influence.
When Mr. Maley was fifteen, Justin Clark—the back-of-the-bus bully—would “inexplicably” let him sit near him, where Clark and his friends blasted classic rock music from a jukebox.
This was how Mr. Maley heard “Stairway to Heaven” for the first time. Despite not wanting to talk to the bus bully, after hearing the song he was compelled to ask, “What in the world was that?”
We don’t know what Justin Clark is doing today, but we know one thing Mr. Maley is still doing today: listening to Led Zeppelin.
At this point in the Club’s jam, Mr. Maley transitions to playing bass. The no-name Fender style P-bass was one he had initially bought used from a store for $40 in college. “Who knows how old it was then,” Mr. Maley says.
To this day, the strings on it remain unchanged, giving it an especially warm bass tone, the same tone as the rumbling bass lines of the classic soul and funk records Mr. Maley loves. The bass is a shorter scale than a traditional Fender bass, making it more friendly to a guitar player and giving it its unique sound.
After some time, the quartet then transitions to their final jam of the clubs period. Mr. Maley moves to his Fender Rhodes analog keyboard, which he got when he was at grad school.
Mr. Maley cites his all-time favorite artist, Gil-Scott Heron, as the main reason he got the Fender Rhodes. Heron was a musical contributor with keyboardist Brian Jackson. The pair released a streak of albums in the early 1970s. Those albums remain some of Mr. Maley’s favorites.
“It’s such a haunting sound. It’s such a memorable sound. You could sit down at the Fender Rhodes, and no matter what you know, you’ll come up with a song instantaneously.” Mr. Maley said. “It’s so emotive.”
Mr. Maley plays some of his favorite jazz voicings to start the final jam. The sound of the instrument reminds him of being a kid in the 1970s and ’80s, when he could even pick out the sound of the Fender Rhodes on pop songs.
When Mr. Maley originally came across his Fender Rhodes for sale, he couldn’t afford it. That didn’t stop him, though; he got a credit card, and despite the very high APR, bought it anyway. “I must have paid for the Fender Rhodes four times over.” Mr. Maley said. “I still have it today, and I absolutely love it. I see it as a compositional instrument.”
Today, Mr. Maley is working on an album. The material consists of songs from up to twenty five years ago. “It’s a time capsule of what I was, who I was, and what I was feeling at that time.”
Many of the songs are topical, about people that Mr. Maley knew. Mr. Maley explains that some of favorite musicians are storytellers, like folk musicians or people like R&B singer-songwriter Bill Withers.
“Bill Withers always will tell a story a lot of times, so I like that. So these songs tell stories of my life back then.”
Currently, Mr. Maley has all the music recorded but has had trouble finding the time to finish the production of the songs.
“You know, life sometimes gets in the way. But I’m in the process now of trying to perfect different parts of it.”
Mr. Maley even had renowned drummer Bernard Purdie play drums on a track.
Rather than publish the album online, Mr. Maley plans to press it to vinyl and “see what happens.”
At this point, the limited amount of club time runs out and the quartet has to prematurely adjourn.
“We’re all creative people, and it’s a need that has to be addressed. You try to cultivate an identity or a life that’s a creative one.”
Mr. Jamison maley
Leaving to return to his rigorous schedule, Mr. Maley sends an essential message about pursuing your passion.
“We’re all creative people, and it’s a need that has to be addressed,” Mr. Maley says. “You try to cultivate an identity or a life that’s a creative one.”
Mr. Maley describes the nature of his job teaching as creative, but he explains he still has the urge to create music.
“I don’t have any time, but somehow I’m always able to find the time because, as a musician, it’s a constant call that is like pulling from the day you die.” Mr. Maley says.
“Looking at [your] schedule, it seems inconceivable that we could have a spare femtosecond to do anything,” Mr. Maley says, “[but] somehow, some way, I’ll find time, even if it means losing sleep.”