Sounds from Studio AB: Alicia
Alicia Keys’ new album ALICIA kept me moving last week in Studio AB, but also got me thinking about the way we digest music vs. information. Listening to an album in full feels more like a commitment, much like reading a book. Often I'll get in the car and play whatever is on my top playlists, which leads to hearing the same tracks, but also to consuming at a much lower level of focus. By spending a week with an album I can usually get through it a few times, and I get to know it better—I get the arch the artist was intending, and thus get to hear the entire story, just like reading.
Conversely, I wondered what it would be like to listen to tracks of our favorite books or podcasts in this less-focused state. Wouldn't it be nice to get the highlights from these things in three-minute “playlist style” versions every so often, just to keep those principles front of mind? I guess maybe it's time to finally check out Blinkist.
Friday Inspiration Boost
It’s an immediate inspiration-Dynamax (yes, I’m down with the Pokémon) when my two favorite drummers drop new tracks on the same day. I had to think about that statement for a moment, but in the last year I’d be hard-pressed to name two drummers whose playing I’ve enjoyed more than these two gentlemen.
Dafnis Prieto released his latest album Transparency today on his independent label with his Sextet. His most recent album Back to the Sunset has been on loop in my car for almost a year now after hearing him live with Michel Camilo in November 2019 at PASIC. That concert was transcendent for me; I don’t remember being that moved by live music since hearing Stevie Wonder here in Knoxville back in 2015. Both of these concerts along with a small handful of others are moments I will never forget in my life. I’m listening to Transparency now as I wrap up my week at my desk, with the cool October breeze coming in through the window, and it’s setting all the right vibes. Dafnis is one-of-a-kind.
As if that’s not enough of a gift, this afternoon Larnell Lewis released his latest track Change Your Mind on YouTube, from his forthcoming album Relive the Moment. I found Larnell through his work with Snarky Puppy and of course through his viral video on YouTube, where he walks through the process of learning a song in one listen. I’ve got November 20th marked on my calendar for the release of the full album over on Bandcamp. Bob Reynolds’ latest video teased some upcoming behind-the-scenes footage of Larnell in a Snarky Puppy session last week, which I’m also looking forward to checking out.
Top all of this off with the EA Release of Star Wars: Squadrons (affiliate link) hitting shelves today for PS4, and I’m pretty sure I am all set heading into the weekend. If you need me tomorrow, you’ll find me in Studio AB, gunning down TIE fighters with some sick background tracks.
Freedom in the Groove
I just returned from Macstock 2019 in McHenry, IL and had an amazing time. It was such a treat to branch out of my usual activities and share two days learning about something I’m passionate about, while also making some new friends.
I wondered how much I would have to add to the conversation as someone who is not a computer programmer or an engineer, for example. However, in meeting all of these tech-enthusiasts, I was amazed at how many of them mentioned music being their muse. My new friend Mike Melcer from NY showed me two awesome new-to-me apps (review on the way) that he uses for casual music making at home. He even stumped me when he asked for suggestions for apps that help develop relative pitch. Mike Schmitz and I had a great chat about his upbringing on violin and I got the chance to bump into Kourosh Dini, who lives in Chicago and regularly plays piano and guitar. All of us work in different fields day-to-day, so it was enlightening to see how easy it was to find commonalities.
The first night I was there, I had an extended chat with David Sparks (aka MacSparky) and Mike Melcer about a range of topics including Apple, Star Wars & Galaxy’s Edge, and his background as a jazz saxophonist. David has spoken often about how he uses the saxophone as a 30-minute break in his day-to-day, and how the short breaks actually help him to refocus and recharge his energy in the afternoon. Among our conversations, he mentioned a favorite track of his by Joshua Redman called “Hide & Seek,” from his 1996 album Freedom in the Groove. I could sense his pride when he mentioned his daughter being able to scat through most of the tune from his repeated plays of the track, an experience I’ve shared as I’ve heard various records work their way into my kids’ playlists and backseat singing. Always a heart-warming experience as a Dad.
When the weekend wrapped up, I grabbed a car to the airport and was actually feeling a little overwhelmed. The weekend helped to focus lots of really exciting ideas and possibilities to use technology as a means to creating more meaningful work, and that is always an exciting prospect. Once I worked through airport security at O’Hare, I popped in my AirPods and grabbed a meal at the Chicago Cubs Bar & Grill (where else?). I started reviewing my notes and was reminded that I needed to check out “Hide & Seek.” My history with Joshua Redman actually goes back to ~2002, when I joined some friends on an impromptu trip into Chicago from Northern Illinois University. We headed to the Jazz Showcase and saw the Dave Holland Quintet, grabbed dinner at the ESPN Zone, and then found out Redman was in town, so we headed up to Martyrs to hear him with Sam Yahel and Brian Blade, touring their recent Elastic album release. I picked up the album and played it nearly every morning for a solid year as I was getting ready…my roommate was a jazz bass major and may never listen to Joshua Redman again because of me.
O’Hare that day was slammed and, in general, was feeling rather claustrophobic. However, thanks to my AirPods, I was having a completely musical experience – all but dancing down the terminal hallway toward my gate. David was right. “Hide and Seek” is an incredible opening track and the album ended up sticking with me for the rest of the night. It was so inspiring to reconnect with a musical favorite that had made his way off of my recent playlists. My gate ended up being at the end of the terminal in one of those basement, dead-end, cul-de-sacs, where everyone is crowded and miserable. Meanwhile, I was having a completely isolated experience trying not to draw attention to myself as I was digging each track of the album. I got on the plane and was seated next to someone whose body type was taking up half of my seat. Didn’t matter though, I was locked into the record.
I knew Sunday night was going to be a long night, with a late flight and even later commute home, but listening to this album made it feel like time travel. I finally hit Knoxville, just shy of 1AM and reveled while listening to Invocation, another favorite track of mine from the album. Now on my Apple Carplay and on my 3rd or 4th time through the disc, I was driving home and excited to start the week home with my family. My overwhelm was gone and the travel time seemed to disappear. The music inspired me and I was able to capture some clarity and meaningful notes on a few projects during the journey in Apple Notes. While AirPods, an iPhone, and Apple Notes are not exactly “advanced” technology, this experience never would have been possible years ago. We had talked all weekend at MacStock about using technology to get to the creative work, and I was thankful to be arriving home inspired, clear-minded, and ready to get back to the daily mission of creating meaningful art.