Olomoucky denik, Olomouc, CZECH REPUBLIC, May 3, 2011 Czech version (Translation) Karen Bentley Pollick presented her brilliant playing technique in the composition Cluck Old Hen Variations [by David A. Jaffe]. A nimble, all accoustic composition combines the traditional tune wtih a modern harmonic-melodic basis. The audience repaid a long applause for the performance.
Le Monde, Paris, FRANCE, Oct. 5, 1982, "Jouer de l'ordinateur--A La Biennale de Venise." Heuresment, une lumiere dansait dans Silicon Valley Breakdown, de David Jaffe... Travaillant dans un secteur étroit mais déjà prodigieusement complexe, il prouve que l'on peut maîtriser l'ordinateur et le forcer à entrer dans la musicque. Toute la pièce est fondée sur la synthèse d'un son de guitare, mais avec toutes ses qualités d'attaques et de résonances, qui va donner lieu à une vaste étude pleine de fantaisie et parfois assez saisissante, uniquement réalisée par la machine et témoignant d'un sens de la continuité et du développement, d'une intention rythmique et spaciale très rares à ce niveau de souplesse... Elle ouvre sans doute une brèche dans le dspotisme de l'ordinareur, un peu comme les premières oeuvres de Pierre Henry affirmaient la possibilite de jourer d'un musique nouvelle. Enfin quelqu'un qui joue!
Translation: "Playing the computer--The Venice Biennale". Happily, a light danced in Silicon Valley Breakdown, by David Jaffe...Working in a narrow field, but one that is already prodigiously complex, he proves that it is possible to master the computer and force it to enter into the realm of music. The entire piece is based on the synthesis of a note of the guitar, but with all its qualities of attack and resonances, giving way to a vast study, full of fantasy and sometimes quite moving, realized solely by computer and showing a sense of continuity and development, as well as a sense of rhythmic and spatial intention that is very rare at this level of flexibility... It opens, no doubt, a gap in the despotism of the computer, a bit as the first works of Pierre Henry affirmed the possibilities of playing a new music. Finally, someone who plays!
The Guardian, London and Manchester, ENGLAND, May 29, 1985, "Sounds Spectacular." Effective was a sort of double concerto [Bristlecone Concerto II] for violin, with orthodox ensemble and mandolin with computer-tape orchestra, the mandolin played by the composer, David Jaffe... The music for live instruments was eloquent and idiomatic, while the mandolin's interventions produced an interesting emotional effect, almost as though a being from another planet was earnestly trying to establish contact.
Giornale della Musica, ITALY, Dec. 1994, "Jaffe: mandolino americano moderno." In un percorso ideale che si snoda tra tradizione e modernità i brani del cd disegnano una, appa di tutte le possibili interpretazioni del mandolino...per un risultato suggestivo ed affascinante.
Translation: In an ideal course which winds between tradition and modernity, the pieces on the CD ["XXIst century mandolin"] describe a map of all the possible interpretations for the mandolin...for an evocative and fascinating result.
Array (Computer Music Association), SCOTLAND, Winter 1991, "ICMC 1990, Glasgow." Just as some composers may be thought of as derivative, others can be considered to have an original voice or approach. David Jaffe's Telegram to the President falls into the latter category. The piece stood out as an example of a personal musical language. [In his Impossible Animals], the electronic and acoustic voice sounds blend amazingly well to form a unified texture.
Polnische Musik, POLAND, Jan. 1988, "Warsaw Autumn '87." A pleasant impression was made by the American mandolinist David A. Jaffe [playing Ellis Island Sonata]. Shy and dreamy in appearance, he took up with gusto the musical ideas of Charles Ives and by means of a highly refined scordatura demonstrated what could be performed on the instrument.
Times Colonist, CANADA, April 15, 1995, "Exploring new worlds via computer." [The performance of 'The Temple of Artemis' from The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.] Hearing the torrential cascades of notes, and eerily beaustiful timbres, is an ear-opening experience... One of the most unusual, and rewarding, experiences of the season.
The Age, AUSTRALIA, June 13, 1995, "Digital music, maestro." [David Jaffe] is creating some weird and wonderful instruments -- inside a computer.