Fool’s Resolution (2013)

It's been a few years in the works but I am releasing a new record with pianist Michael Murray, drummer Thomas Wendt, bassist Tony DePaolis, and percussionist Lucas Ashby. I've missed playing with this band, which has lost members to different cities, but am glad we could document the group's interplay with a record and reunite for some gigs in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Erie. This record is built around three suites, each of which explores a specific musical influence and period of listening. I wrote many of the songs with Michael's playing in mind, which I feel provides a missing piece in many of my compositions. In a way, his improvisations on the composition are so strong that they become collaborative efforts. Tony, Tom, and Lucas also bring the music to a place far beyond the original idea. And so, while these are compositions, I feel they came to life through our collective dynamic and so offer something between beyond one's musician's perspective on a musical landscape. "Moth to the Flame", "Asa Nisi Masa", and "OCD" comprise the Bahia Suite, which grew from a visit to Northern Brazil. In the summer of 2007, I spent six weeks in Salvador, Brazil studying Portuguese and percussion. I spent my days wandering the old neighborhood of Pelourinho and taking on teachers of Bahian music. I ended up focusing on the Brazilian frame drum or pandeiro, which is an unassuming instrument though one of seemingly infinite possibilities and voices. For these songs I let the rhythms be a guide for composing melodies. "Fool's Resolution", "Belly Up", and "Evil Eye" comprise the Suite for Astor Piazolla and pay tribute to his body of work. I spent a period of time immersed in the music of Piazolla and other Argentinian composers and had organized a Tango group to play milongas in Pittsburgh. The melodies sunk into my head and I found myself creating new compositions to explore this musical language. The final suite is dedicated to the jazz scene and communities that keep it alive and developing. “Cloud Gate", "East Coast Time," and "New Seasons" comprise the East Coast Suite and are offerings to the shifting landscape of improvised music in New York City and beyond. Tony's arrangement of "Head Over Heels" by Tears for Fears rounds up the album.

Solo Works for Guitar (2004)

I first encountered the gyil (a xylophone traditionally played in Ghana's Northwestern region) as a student at the University of Ghana in 2000. John Collins, for one of his processes of art classes, invited Kakraba Lobi and Valerie Dee Naranjo to perform for students at the music department. They spoke briefly and then launched into an hour of powerful and mystifying music. The songs had a way of engulfing you with buzzing overtones, mind-twisting ostinatos, and virtuosic improvisation. As a student with Kakraba's son SK, I began to unravel some of the instrument's mystery. It was on several trips to Kakraba's village in the North that I was able to hear the music performed in the contexts of a funeral and witness the powerful role this music plays in celebrating life in the event of a death. I began transcribing several gyil pieces as taught by SK and worked ideas and inspirations from the music into 11 pieces for solo guitar (with guidance from the master composer Eric Moe). You can listen to the first six pieces below.