Could jam-band music be the official rock music of this millennium? Rochester's Jae Mood seems to think so. Yeah, it's got its tie-dyed hippy roots, and bands that play marathon solos in marathon songs in marathon shows. But jam has open arms for your tired, your poor, your huddled musical masses. Jam music can welcome strains of rock, jazz, bluegrass, blues, folk, funk, reggae, and now even hip-hop into the fold without losing its identity, or alienating those who got there first. Jae Mood guitarist Ben Rossi attributes it to a shift in priorities back to the music.

"I think it has to do with a lot of bands getting out of the limelight, the whole MTV generation," Rossi says. "Not as many bands are wanting to be played on the radio, or maybe they're just not going for it as much, or marketing themselves differently. What's more important is the music. I think people are in the whole jam-band scene for the love of music. Dave Matthews [Band] or Blues Traveler, they kind of cross genres, they have their hits, but in general it comes down to their love of music. I think a lot of bands are getting behind touring and focusing on the one-to-one contact rather than getting a record contract."

Formed about four years ago in and around SUNY Geneseo, Jae Mood - Ben Collins (drums), Ben Rossi (rhythm guitar, vocals), Jeff Mahmood (bass), Padraic McConville (guitar), and Nate Kester (keyboards, vocals) - plays simultaneously tight and loose within a multitude of groove-based styles, each serving to accent or soften the other. It's a funky brew.

The band honed its chops at house parties and college bars where the atmosphere was ripe for open-ended exploration. Hence the jam-band tag.

"We have some instrumental songs that last 12 to 15 minutes," Rossi says. "So that automatically puts you in the jam-band genre. But then again, we're not doing the 3- to 4-minute radio song, either."

As a textbook jam band, Jae Mood almost fits - although the band doesn't necessarily want to fit that niche. Musicians don't like to be pigeonholed.

"I don't even consider it a pigeonhole," says drummer Collins. "Because there are so many genres in it."

"I think we actually stick out in the jam-band genre," Rossi says. "We don't classify ourselves as a jam band. I think we are more of a rock band that jams."

And if the jam-band genre's, friendly, come-one-come-all policy didn't exist, these Rochester rockers would be just that; Rochester rockers.

The key difference between conventional jam and unconventional jam is the use of song structure, or the total lack thereof. Jae Mood has found a happy medium. There's structure, but the cement isn't completely dry.

"We do love to improvise," says Collins. "But we just don't rely on it as much."

Jae Mood plays with a even-handed rock edge - something jam bands often forgo within a song's complexity and rock bands lose in their brevity - and the band isn't afraid of bar chords or the occasional swing to straight time. The band plays pop without intention; that is to say, the band doesn't go after a specific hook or groove, but makes sure it's in the room listening when the hooks and grooves show up. Live, this may roll out the red carpet to go off a little, to get out there, to fly on instruments, so to speak. But most of the material on the band's new self-titled debut (produced by Filthy Funkster Nick Murray) winds up on stage, as is, with little jam-band tinkering.

"With the exception of maybe one song," Rossi says. "It's all verbatim live. We may extend a few measures here and there, and that's usually on the fly. With a couple of the songs, they're open ended."

The band has grown and tightened up of the past four years, but hasn't lost sight of what it learned in those early days at house parties and college bars. "Just that free spirit to play whatever you want and to have fun and interact with a large crowd," Rossi says. "But we're a little more structured now." Rossi concurs.

"We don't really get spaced out, get so far out there," he says. "Well, maybe once a show."

Jae Mood

Part of the East End Festival

Friday, August 14

East End, corner of East Ave & Scio St

6-11 p.m. | $3 | eastendmusicfestival.com

jaemood.com