Community and socialization are essential ingredients to music, especially improvised music. The reciprocal relationship between of one’s environment and oneself starts at an early age and never ends. Ultimately we must learn that sitting in solitude and learning how to engage with oneself is equally as important as learning how to sit in a community, how to interact within a group, and how to learn from one’s surroundings. And as we age, we learn to form our own values and discern between others’ principles, based on what we have experienced.

Music is obviously a social activity, but it’s easy to neglect the amount of hours spent alone developing the craft. As I have grown older, I have learned how to celebrate and cherish being alone; how to find comfort in being by yourself. Artistic creation doesn’t just appear out of nowhere, it comes from a deep fountain that is replenished and fed by the community that teaches you, nourishes you, and holds you. But artistic creation is also done through your own will power. I recently heard from a friend that being creative isn’t about releasing one special, grand, magnum opus. Being creative is about frequency and the continued drive for creation, evolution, and production, and your own voice will develop with that.

            Duality is a major theme in modern society. From politics, race, religion, and culture, I sense people leaning towards binary thoughts; good and bad, sad and happy, wrong and right. But that is not true with art. I think that art now is becoming more and more binary because of the globalization and immediate accessibility, but ironically it is more rare than ever for uniqueness to occur.

            The title of my album, Quartets and Solos, refers simply to the two types of songs that are on the album; there are eight songs with the full quartet (Welcome Home, Fast Slow, Late Stage Epiphany, To Speak Or Sing Softly, Casual Friday, The Mayor of Malibu, The Hawk, and Dogwood), and four songs with only one musician (The Most Beautiful One, Snap Pop, To Swim Below, and To Dance Underground). There is also one last song (To Remain Alive) that only has three of us playing, but it is from a live concert that we played as a quartet that I recorded it on my phone, and we only used a short trio segment. The title is a bit classical-leaning or stark, but it conveys clarity and simplicity. Many of the song titles are active, or imply action, which I intend to convey that the music and vibrations will continue just like we will all keep going throughout time. Adding onto the active character, some of the production that we added to several songs is intended to give a live feeling, designed to give a more intimate and immersive experience for the listener.

            My album is unique for several reasons. All of my quartet compositions were composed for this band in mind, however those quartet compositions are not connected thematically or musically (other than the instrumentation and personnel). The variety in the quartet compositions shows the broad range of styles, interests, and sounds that I enjoy and have digested throughout the years; a hint of it all can be found in those songs. Conversely, the solo compositions are very intentional and connected, and each one was written for that specific musician. Dayna, Carmen, and Jimmy are all fantastic musicians, but with the solo pieces I tried to capture unique aspects of each of their playing; lean into what makes them special. The solo pieces can be thought of as appetizers to an entrée; still delicious, just slightly smaller and less dense.

            Every song has some additional sound design or production on it, particularly the solo pieces. Because of the production, and the type of compositions, my album doesn’t sound like most modern jazz albums. In adding production, I really wanted to emphasize certain moments in the compositions, solos, or bring out specific qualities in an instrument.  

            For this album I worked very closely with Samuel Adams. Samuel is a composer, improvisor, and producer, who blends acoustic and digital sounds with traditional classical music. We have known each other for a long time, he produced our first quartet album, Consider The Stars Beneath Us (Outside In Music, 2022), and the collaborative process on my new album was very important and he played a major roll from start to finish. Including Samuel was like having a fifth member in the band and he also contributed one composition to the album, To Speak Or Sing Softly. We discussed how to include additional production and sound design from the beginning of my compositional process, so as to be more intentional with it; treat it as another instrument.

            When recording the of the solo pieces (The Swim Below, To Dance Underground, Snap Pop, and The Most Beautiful One), we did ten to fifteen takes of each one, then Samuel and I decided which takes we liked best, and where we wanted each song to go. He transformed each solo song into completely new compositions; tiny universes with their own stories, their own characters, and their own emotions. Samuel, along with Dayna Carmen, and Jimmy all truly helped bring this album to life and I am grateful to all of them.

            As I have mentioned, this is the second album that our quartet plus Samuel has recorded. I am really proud that I have been able to keep a band together, develop a sound together, and gain musical trust with each other. And having Samuel there by my side at every step is a blessing.

            I have learned so much from Samuel, Dayna, Carmen, and Jimmy and I feel so much joy when I get to perform and collaborate with them. I have known all of these musicians for a long time and I love the personal and musical friendships that we have fostered together.