Songs of the Lives They Lived: A Voice From My Past

Jascha Hoffman, right, and Spiff Wiegand play at Subterranean Arthouse in Berkeley in 2012. (www.architecture.com)

When I was the copy chief at The New York Sun I hired a few freelancers; one of them was Jascha Hoffman. I enjoyed talking with him; he was interested in literature and music and science, and we discussed those topics, and more. He was energetic and ambitious. I lost track of him when I left the paper and moved to Paris for a job, but thought of him at times when I read or heard something in which I thought he would be interested.

This morning I heard his voice again, after an absence of 15 years. His latest album is out, and NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday ran a segment on it – the songs are based on obituaries Hoffman wrote. It was a nice reunion for me, and if you follow this link you can get The Afterneath for a great price. Give it a listen. And Jascha, it was nice talking with you.