Free Music!  Excellent Senegalese food and ambience.

Three Tuesdays at Dakar with my new trio:

Tuesdays may 6, 13, and 20th, 8-10:30pm
Le Grand Dakar
285 Grand Ave., Brooklyn 11238
www.granddakar.com

w/ a new collective trio featuring the music of
Ryan Blotnick- guitar
James Ilgenfritz- bass
John O'Brien- drums

This trio has been rehearsing weekly with the goal of not only playing some of each other's more tricky compositions, but also to tackle the tunes of current innovators like Mark Dresser, Peter Van Huffel, and Pete Robbins in a small group setting.

/////////////////////

June 27th 9pm
Jazz Underground
259 Bleeker st.
w/ Pete Robbins, Jacob Sacks, Thomas Morgan, and Jeff Williams

/////////////////////

"This record is so much fun, I'm beginning to think it might not be legal!..Let's face it, what's more fun than sweaty joy?" -Mark Saleski on Akoya's P.D.P

Reviews are coming in on my new album!  Read them here.

It is released! The album I recorded last March in Barcelona is done.  The release date was February 12th.  The album features Pete Robbins, Albert Sanz, Perry Wortman and Joe Smith. I am very excited to announce that it will be released on Songlines Recordings, an excellent label out of Vancouver that has released consistently high-quality albums by Dave Douglas, Ben Monder, Chris Speed, and Bill Frisell.  I am planning some CD release gigs in New England and New York in February, and a tour of Dublin, London, Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia starting March 23rd. 

SPAIN OR BUST! The Spain tour was a sucess with nine shows in Bilbao, San Sebastian, Girona, Valencia and Barcelona.  We rented a van for the duration and drove all over the northern part of the country, stopping to consume good wine and pinxos. By the last quintet gig (at Jimmy Glass) the band has taken on a life of it's own, segueing between tunes through free improv and building to some really intense moments.  Thanks to Jimmy Glass, Bilbaina Jazz Club, Sunset Jazz Club, SEDA Jazz, Sala de Matisse, Be Bop Club, Robador 23, and Jazz Clot for having us.  The group was well received and we sold over 50 cds. 

Pete Robbins and Centric has recorded a new album!  It is finished and will be released on Fresh Sound New Talent April 29th. It features Dan Weiss, Tyshawn Sorey, Thomas Morgan, and Sam Sadigursky among others. I play on a few of the tracks including a Gesualdo adaptation.

Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble is in full swing after completing our new album President Dey Pass. The Vinyl 12" has already been released and the full album hit the HMV Japanese charts- ranked #1 Bestseller for new African music.  Our release party is at SOB's on February 28th.

Old News, but funny anyway:

Squirrel Music

On sunday I came home to my apartment to find that a squirrel had come in through my window and tracked mud all over my midi keyboard.  Luckily, I had left my computer on with Sibelius armed for note input-  It registered some 457 bars (in dotted whole notes) of original squirrel music! The keyboard speaker was on so the squirrel was actually hearing what he played (the only explanation I can think of for spending so long at the keyboard).  I exported the midi file to Ableton live, added a synth sound, added some extra dynamics (the squirrel's original dynamics were registered) and ended up with this track:   Listen

I know this story may seem far-fetched but I have the squirrel prints to prove it on some blank score paper that was on my desk.   I think it may be the same squirrel that stole a bar of dark chocolate off my desk in the middle of the night a few months ago. 

The score that was open in Sibelius was something I was working on for wind quintet for a film score I am doing.  The squirrel ended up rewriting the flute part for the 4 bars I had composed and I made this track out of it:

Gamelan Squirrel