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In the begining Jeff didn't listen to hard rock music at all. He loved soul and rock'n'blues bands like Jackson 5, later he got into hard rock music like Journey. He loved the energy of those bands.
Jeff also knew Spanish and listened to several Latin American bands
He played the trumpet in a band with his brother, and also played the piano.
He then worked for Yngwie J. Malmsteen, but with the pressure, and the style of music, Jeff quit to work on the kinda stuff he wanted too without so mch pressure.
Jeff joined the band Driver. The same Driver that later went on to become M.A.R.S. and record the album "Project Driver" in 1987 with Rob Rock as a singer. He then went on to do background vocals on the 2nd album of Vinnie Vincent Invasion "All Systems Go" (1988).
In the mid-1990s released the debut solo album "Love Parade" (1995)
Talisman was formed in early 1990s and went on to tour and release albums up to 1995.
When Jeff worked with Axel Rudi Pell he had keyboard player whose name was Julie Greaux. She was his fiancee and songwriting partner, he took her with him to Germany because he knew that Axel needed a keyboard player so Julie became a part of the line-up. But then they parted.... Jeff heard that she played with Billy Joel at one point.. Jeff's last album with Axel was "Magic" (1997), Jeff did his stuff in the States and Axel finished the album in Germany. He wanted Jeff to go on tour with him but Jeff couldn't because he had many projects and recordings and he was also working with Boogie Knights so I had to leave Axel .
And yet after eighteen years of recording some of the best music that melodic rock has to offer, Jeff is no more a household name than he was a decade ago. Hopefully with his own band - touring this summer(2005) and then with the Soul Sirkus partnership with Neal Schon(Journey) Jeff will get some of the recognition he deserves. I met Jeff after the Firefest (Bradford 2005) and really wish all his fans knew what a real and down to earth person Jeff really is. Anyone who is a member of the forums and the yahoo group will know Jeff posts there just like anyone else, and also has a great sense of humour.
The late 80’s/early 90’s found Jeff shifting direction toward a more melodic approach to hard rock, with Eyes, Slam and Talisman. Talisman, gave him more fredom to try new things, something Jeff hadn't been able to do prior to this. Jeff likes to be kept on the go, and strives to please his fans - just like anyone else he likes to get the appreiation from his fans - to Jeff thats an indicator he's doing things right by them.
The Talisman ‘Humanimal’ album is probably his favorite so far, but I'm sure with some of the newer stuff Jeff's doing that will change, the Soul Sirkus stuff is excitting, and the band should go far.
Soul Sirkus was siidelined in 2006 and Jeff was to start again with Talisman - releasing a new album Talisman 7 with a planned tour, but then when Steve Aygeri of Journey took ill Jeff stepped in as lead singer for Journey.
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