Taper’s Choice

Taper’s Choice is here to prove that almost everything you’ve believed about jam bands is a lie, that the stereotypical limitations on what it means to find a dank groove or psychedelic texture can be entirely bogus. Only five years ago, Dave Harrington—the ultra-exploratory Los Angeles guitarist who is half of Darkside—sent Real Estate’s Alex Bleeker and Vampire Weekend’s Chris Tomson a simple and alluring question: Should they start a jam band? They soon incorporated keyboardist Zach Tenorio-Miller and nabbed some of that world’s best-ever names and mascots (a gloved banana, slam-dancing). But it wasn’t branding or mere personnel that led Taper’s Choice to ascend so quickly that they served as the house band for Relix’s 50th anniversary in early 2025. It was, instead, their wide-open approach to sound.

There are, as Tomson once put it, “no set ways and no set results” for Taper’s Choice. They’ve got a few band standards, like the moody strummer “Darkness on the Edge of Midtown” and the curling Dead-meets-Floyd fader “Running from the Rain.” But their songs are only starting points for intricate prog workouts, all scripted and tight, or for eyes-closed jams into oblivion, where they lift straight toward space. What’s more, the four members are complete heads, encyclopedic record enthusiasts who will drop a knowing nod to The Doors or Led Zeppelin into a song before sailing off into the great kosmische beyond. If you love jam bands, you know Taper’s is an essential part of the modern scene; if you think you don’t love jam bands, Taper’s says welcome.