Paul Notice and the OK Trombone Visual Album

Paul and I have been best friends since the 8th grade. We drift close and far in our orbits, but when we get together it’s as though we were just a room apart, gone for just a moment. Paul has built an amazing career as a documentary and fiction filmmaker, even winning a NY Emmy for his documentary on Broken Windows policing tactics in New York City. We had a really incredible and at times harrowing and difficult experience getting all of these videos made for this album. I am eternally thankful to him for his wonderful work and perspective on this project- we talk often about how the visual album aspect of this record has taken on a life and an identity all its own, becoming a document of blackness in an overwhelmingly white space like art music. His next big project is an Anti Capitalist, Womanist horror film called Willow. Check it out at the notice blog here.

Many thanks for your amazing work, Paul.

Dave Taylor needs no introduction

Dave rescued me from myself in a huge way. When I began to study with him at Manhattan School of Music, I had a huge chip on my shoulder. I was furious because I felt that all the wrong sorts of music and musicians were being given attention, funding, programming… Dave showed me how to understand the context of everything I listened to, how to bring kindness to my view of the art music landscape, how to respect and appreciate pop music, and - most importantly - how to begin to push myself through the instrument and reveal my deepest insecurities to the audience. He showed me that by presenting the fragile sides of the trombone - as well as the power - we can show a complete and human picture. I can't think of anyone who has had a greater impact on my career than Dave- and he knows it. He's quick to minimize his role, but I think he knows.

Dave has done an incalculable amount for the instrument, for music, for me. Thanks for being unabashedly yourself Dave- it's meant everything to me.

Audio Heaven

I've been an audiophile for a while now, which basically means that I pursue excellence in audio playback for pleasure listening as well as in my own performance. I read the crazy blogs and message boards about the latest gear, I go to audio trade shows like Can Jam and listen to 10 thousand dollar headphones like anyone else trying to chase audio nirvana, but nothing has been as genuinely special as spending time with Ryan Streber of Oktaven Audio in Mt. Vernon, NY. We nerd out on speakers, amps, headphones, bit rates, and everything else related to audio perfection- he has taught me a lot, and in addition to making my debut solo album sing beautifully, he has enabled me to more fully appreciate the audiophile hobby. Working on this album with him has allowed me to get my hobby of high end listening a bit closer to my profession of music creation.

A word on Ryan as an engineer/producer- I have never been more comfortable in a recording session than I was with Ryan. His ears and sense of the scope of the project are wonderfully calibrated to modern art music, and his attention to detail makes for a genuinely delightful recording experience. Not to mention his mixing and mastering skills are second to none. Enjoy this interview!

The Economics of Gold

Composer Lou Goldford has written a phenomenal piece for me, and I’m so proud to include a live recording of it on my upcoming debut solo album OK Trombone. Lou, in addition to being a PhD candidate in composition at Columbia University, holds an undergrad degree in Economics. He employed his knowledge of novel economic concepts to write a solo trombone piece with electroacoustic accompaniment that actually converts the live price of gold into sound that is used in real time to accompany the extremely difficult solo trombone writing.

This piece is near and dear to me because it musically portrays the struggle of musicians against the forces of capital. Especially lately, I’ve been viscerally experiencing the reality of how quickly capitalism is ready to jettison anything that doesn’t add to the bottom line. I struggle daily to reject the idea that success is solely defined in economic terms - but the consumerist quagmire in the US bombards the senses with constant feelings of inadequacy.

You are valuable.
Your art is valuable.

I need to hear that today just as much as you do I think.

SHONKY

Shonky-

1. of dubious integrity or legality

2. unreliable; unsound

I’ve long felt out of place in the music world- my ambitions don’t match match my instrument. 

I lean into the shonky nature of my instrument- I find that juxtaposing laser beam clarity with shonky imprecision creates the push and pull that engages me as a listener- like searching a radio dial through static and ether to find a tiny frequency, full of beauty, reaching out for a listener. 

         Something symmetrical and beautiful producing something similarly symmetrical and beautiful is neither surprising nor special- but a sliding, overused piece of copper and brass tubing saying something cathartic in a moment of profound global vulnerability I find to be endlessly exciting. I often relate to the dancer Erik Cavanaugh- (he is famous for showing that dancers can be any shape or size) but I stop short in saying that he is a great dancer and deserving of his fame in spite of his non traditional shape. I wholeheartedly assert that his movements are beautiful because of his size; just as a new silhouette can open perspectives in appreciating the human form, so can a new vehicle in art music give new and different beauty because of its shonky nature.  I’m so pleased to be able to share some recordings in the near future that I believe will similarly open some new perspectives in chamber music- more on that later.

Enjoy.