Here we are, meeting in the realm of these words, written in the Fall of 2023.

Leaves are turning, hearts are broken, all at once. I like to believe music brings solace and transcends all surface differences. In music we are integrated, from the bottom up.

This volume started out in the same way as Vol. 1- Assembling older material, plopping them on a fresh sheet of Logic and seeing which ones ring with vigor, vigor!

This time around, I broke my promise not to tinker with the material. Three cuts are pretty much brand new.


*a few words on the setlist..*

'Dross', a choir sings low, and does so throughout, setting the stage.

'Keeping the Good Cheer'. Thanksgiving 2021, at the Willers. I was enjoying a particularly warm sounding piano at a family gathering. Lots of kids, It's like 'the eye of the storm'.

'A Different Drummer'. Oldest track of the bunch, a sound experiment based on some of my drumming. Always found it captivating, but couldn't imagine ever finding a place for, until now. Plop.

The title comes from a William Melvin Kelly book which describes A black man in times of segregation, answering a call from within.

'Boards of van Hemmen', sound waves found in one of the tracks, delish in their own right, very Boards of Canada.

'The Farmhouse'. All sounds herein where assembled at a farm upstate, Christmas 2019. When I put them all together, a tapestry revealed itself, oh the mystery!

'I Sound Like a Broken Record', comes from a scratchy Duke Ellington record. The loops here are all 'au natural'. I layered them to create a fabric in it's own right. Ben Gerstein paired it thus:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmkOnMNIBcE&t=50s

'Gabriel Fauré's requiem must be one of my all time favorite pieces. It never fails to strum the heart strings. As I walked into the church the Harpist was tuning, and it sounded lovely. I added a basketball practice sound sample to it because that's where I was earlier that day, so all is rhythm and sound, all day long.

'For Daniel', is for Daniel Levine. He passed away sometime ago, and that is a heartbreaker. The track was pretty much done when a little melody floated by. The lightheartedness of it made me think of him. I miss him very much.

Much Love to all, I hope you enjoy, send me a note, and I'll buy you a beer.