I’ve enjoyed developing collaborations and friendships over the past five years in Manizales, Colombia, and I had another wonderful trip there last week for a short residency at UCaldas. I worked on improvisation techniques with the Ensamble Música Contemporánea U de Caldas (EMCUC, pictured), directed by Yovanny Betancur, in preparation for an upcoming telematic concert on June 11 within the … Read more
I’m excited to be a part of the Mark Dresser Seven’s latest album, “Ain’t Nothing But A Cyber Coup & You,” just released by Clean Feed Records. Always grounded by Mark’s incredible bass playing and composing, the band also features the brilliant contributions of Nicole Mitchell, Marty Ehrlich, Keir GoGwilt, Joshua White, Jim Black. Press is already starting to come … Read more
I had a great time playing my music at Sam First in LA yesterday with a phenomenal sextet: Nicole Mitchell (flute), Jeff Parker (guitar), Joshua White (piano), Emma Dayhuff (bass) and Alex Cline (drums). (photo by Dean Westerfield)
I enjoyed a chance to play in NYC last weekend on the Sound It Out series at Greenwhich Music House with my trio, with Chris Tordini and Dan Weiss, along with special guest vocalist Fay Victor. We played some newer music and reworked some pieces from past trio albums, all of it expanded by Fay’s incredible artistry. The other set … Read more
I loved playing an electro-acoustic duo gig with Joshua White at the Blue Whale in November. Joshua played piano and keyboard, sometimes simultaneously, and I was also using both trombone and laptop. Joshua always inspires me with his moment to moment creative choices and after so many years of collaborating with him in acoustic bands, it was both exciting and … Read more
I was so grateful to be a part of performing and recording SoundPath by Muhal Richard Abrams, who passed just one year ago at the age of 87. Muhal’s generosity, creative vision and music had such a deep and broad impact on the field and on so many individuals, myself included. This project for the October Revolution Festival in Philadelphia … Read more
Such a joy to perform an improvised set with vocalist Fay Victor and pianist Elisabeth Harnik at iBeam in Brooklyn! The music included a powerful poem Fay had composed in response to the US senate’s horrifying supreme court confirmation process on that same weekend. It was great to play with Fay again and meet Elisabeth, both incredible improvisers.
In September, I enjoyed leading a great band at Sam First in LA, with Jeff Parker, Joshua White and Anna Butterss. We played some new music I’ve been working on, as well works by Yusef Lateef and Carla Bley. Looking forward to some more gigs in the future with these incredible musicians!
I just enjoyed several days in the studio recording a new album by Mark Dresser with his septet, an amazing band with Marty Ehrlich, Nicole Mitchell, Joshua White, Jim Black and Keir GoGwilt. The album will be released Clean Feed Records, and we had the privilege of recording with the fantastic engineer Ron Saint Germain (pictured here with Mark) at … Read more
Last week, I enjoyed collaborating on a couple concerts with some creative musicians in Bogotá as well as teaching and performing a solo concert in Medellín. In Bogotá, I played two gigs at *matik-matik*, the first an evening of improvised music with Juliana Gaona, Rodlofo Acosta, Daniel Leguizamón, Juan David Rubio, Holman Álvarez, Melissa Vargas, Santiago Botero, Benjamin Calais, Ricardo … Read more
As always, it was inspiring to play with Joshua White this weekend at the Blue Whale in LA and Dizzy’s in San Diego, in this case with his band SixOfOne along with Stephanie Richards, Dean Hulett, Dan Schnelle and Josh Johnson. Joshua kept the music super open and it was wonderful to stretch out with these great improvisers.
I’m excited to co-lead the Telematic Bridges course for the second year this coming August. We’ll be working in our studios at UCI with high school students from Santa Ana High School, connecting them telematically with similar age students in Manizales, Colombia. It’s inspiring for me to see what they will do in the telematic space and to expose them to … Read more