Jahfe is Miami's favorite Reggae band
Ask anyone in Miami who their favorite reggae band is and you’ll here a resounding chorus, "Jahfe". I agree with the majority vote and raise the stakes to say Jahfe is the best reggae band in South Florida, without a doubt.
With ten members in the band the sound is surprisingly not chaotic or overbearing; the music is arranged and presented so perfectly that they inspire their audiences to dance. The connection they have with their audience is not superficial or trendy, they send thought provoking messages along with their catchy reggae style.
Although their set was cut short the last time I saw them play (they heckled the sound man for not getting their sound right after a few songs and then stopped playing), they made a strong impression on me and all the people that were dancing up against the stage.
I spoke to Jahfe front man, Sasha, over the phone about their new album touring plans and their relationship with their fans.
Steve: What happened at that last show? It sounded like Esther dissed the soundman.
Sasha: Well we have our own sound engineer, but that night the soundman didn’t have our levels correct and then we lost the vocals completely so we just stopped playing.
St: You lead the best reggae band in Miami, I’m a big fan. I can see Jahfe has a busy show schedule 
and you’re playing The Bob Marley Festival.
Sa: Thank you, yes we play every other Sunday at Jazid and every other Tuesday we play at Bougainvilleas which is a place on SW 32nd. We’re playing at The Bob Marley Festival February 28th at Bicentennial Park. Last year we played the Bob Marley Festival in Orlando.
St: That’s going to be a great show. Jahfe is a large band - how many members do you have?
Sa: Yes we’re excited. We have ten members in the band because we care a lot about the sound, you know what I mean? Because when I was growing up reggae music always had a big band. It’s not the money, we see the bigger picture. We want to spread our consciousness through the music, so therefore we have to get it the right way.
St: I could pick up on that in your performance, you have a positive message in your music.
Sa: We play for ourselves first but without the fans there’s no band. Sometimes people are afraid of having a strong message but if you have a good melody I think they’ll be able to listen to it, you know?
St: Do you find it difficult creating music with so many members and so many different dynamics going on? Who writes the music or does everyone contribute?
Sa: Basically as far as lyric and melody, Esther and I do it, and the instrumentation is done by the band. It’s not too difficult at all, even though we all have a different backgrounds we communicate a lot - communication is the key in all things.
St: What are your other plans with the band?
Sa: Well we have our album The Solution that’s scheduled to come out this summer. Our goal is to spread our consciousness all over the world; we are out playing for you playing for the people.
St: Thank you for your time.
Sa: Thank you.
Jahfe Band Members:
Sasha Sanon - Percussions & Lead Vocals
Esther Fortune - Lead Vocals
Will Mills - Lead Guitar & Vocals
Zach Morillo - Drums
Hunter Parmentier - Bass Guitar
Faycal Bettioui - Rhythm Guitar & Vocals
Danielle Pyton - Vocals
Jesse McGinty - Saxophone
Patrick Converse - Trumpet
Camillo Sierra - Keyboard & Vocals
LINKS
Jahfe's Myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/jahfejahfe)
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