Recent History. J S Kingfisher -- Jeff -- is a composer, recording artist, and author living in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California. His first album, "floating upstream," was released in 1993, followed by "Vesica Piscis" in 1998. In 2002 he founded Philomuse, and produced and released John Steiner's "Out of the Blue."

In 2004, Jeff began work on a system of divination based on music called the Muzoracle. On August 1, 2008, the Muzoracle -- and it's companion product, the Musician's Dice -- were launched. Jeff's next record, "Upon Awakening," will be out on CD in August of 2009. Jeff's also co-producing a new John Steiner CD , "Into the Green" -- it will be out in May.

The Stone Age. J S Kingfisher -- Jeff Siegel at the time -- entered the world at 7:18 pm on July 23rd, 1958 in Sacramento, California (Leo Sun, Scorpio Moon, Capricorn rising.) Musically, he was influenced early on by the big band and country swing records of his parents, and by the records passed on to him by his older cousins: "Meet the Beatles" and "Rubber Soul," the Stones' "Aftermath," Cream's "Disraeli Gears," lots of Janis and Motown, and Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." His high school years found him heavy into Bowie and glam with the shoes to prove it; in the meantime he discovered fusion, Joni, and THC. Jeff started playing piano and writing songs himself at age 12, and studied organ and classical theory throughout his teens.

Jeff's first professional gig was as a pianist for the notorious Lee Garland Show, a raucous and bawdy review featuring Garland's female impersonations, comedy, and dancers. Throughout his early twenties he played in numerous rock bands, and in 1981 moved to LA. There he attended the Dick Grove School of Music for two years, studying piano, composition, and arranging.This led to a half-dozen years of active session work, often from his own recording studio, Electric Cat. Meanwhile he continued working on his own stuff, and in 1989 moved up to Northern Cal and began writing the material that would later become "floating upstream."

Jeff worked throughout the nineties on several multimedia projects, composing for the theatrical productions "Both Hands," "Kelly's Dream in the Rain," and finally "Unity Gain," a well received Bay Area production based on "floating upstream" that included several musicians and movement artists floating behind a sixty-foot wide projection surface. Continuing in the multimedia vein, "Vesica Piscis" was accompanied by the interactive Vesica Piscis Labyrinth on the web (currently archived on that site.)

Personal Notes. Jeff's music, writing, and art is heavily influenced by his other esoteric interests, which include dreamwork, divination, mythology, and the Gurdjieff work. He is an avid reader of both fiction and non, and somewhat of a film buff. He loves to make music and art and spends most of his time doing so; he also likes to cook, and enjoys relaxing with family and close friends. Jeff lives in the forest with his longtime partner, Hugh, and their dog, Baba Lou Girlie.