John Lamberton recently interviewed me for his podcast, and I enjoyed a long conversation with him about my work in telematics, live electronics, and many other topics. Thank you, John! His interesting podcast series, titled Bridge, is available on all the usual places like Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
LeRoy Downs and others are putting in a labor of love to sustain the weekly “Just Jazz” concert series in LA, and it was a pleasure to lead a band playing some of my recent compositions there this week with 4 incredible musicians: Nicole Mitchell, Mark Dresser, Joshua White and Alex Cline. Thanks to LeRoy and the organizers, to everyone … 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
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!
Somewhere In The Upstream, my latest trio CD on Clean Feed Records with Chris Tordini and Dan Weiss, and dedicated to Yusef Lateef, received a nice review in the May 2018 issue of Downbeat magazine. “Three master improvisers—Dessen on trombone and computer, bassist Christopher Tordini and drummer Dan Weiss—collaborate with help from a computer that acts both as an electronic roadmap … Read more
I’m happy to announce that Clean Feed Records just released my newest trio CD, titled Somewhere In The Upstream. The music is dedicated to my former teacher, Yusef Lateef (1920-2013). This concert-length composition takes the form of a “scorestream,” in which score notations are displayed on screens for the improvisers to interpret, shifting with each performance. I wrote it for … Read more
I recently enjoyed two concerts in SoCal with a new quintet featuring my trio bandmates Chris Tordini and Dan Weiss as well as special guests Nicole Mitchell and Joshua White. We played on Oct. 26 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on a split bill with Nicole Mitchell’s “When Life’s Door Opens,” and then on Oct. 27 in San Diego, on … Read more
I once asked Yusef Lateef what he practiced. He replied: “I try to discover things that I had not known before.” Somewhere In The Upstream is a piece for my trio, featuring incredible collaborators Chris Tordini and Dan Weiss. I dedicated this music to Yusef, a very important teacher of mine. (You can read about my perspective on Lateef in the … Read more
I’m happy to announce that my trio has received a New Music USA Project Award! The award will help support performances and a recording centered around “Somewhere In The Upstream,” a composition I premiered with the trio last fall that is dedicated to and inspired by Yusef Lateef. I look forward to performing and recording this work with Chris Tordini … Read more
In November 2014, I enjoyed performing two concerts in CA with my trio, featuring Chris Tordini and Dan Weiss, in which we premiered a new scorestream composition that was commissioned by the Fromm Foundation. Titled Somewhere In The Upstream, this piece is dedicated to my former teacher Yusef Lateef, who passed about a year ago. If you missed the concerts, you can … Read more
I’m grateful to be featured in a “players profile” by Joe Tangari in the current issue of Downbeat magazine. It’s subtitled “Interactive Systems” and he discusses my trio and my work with live electronics, as well as composing for telematic concerts. And my latest trio CD, Resonating Abstractions, was also reviewed this month in All About Jazz magazine by Robert Bush, … Read more