This video is from a performance by my quintet (our second and perhaps final gig) headlining at the Berlin Jazzfest on November 4th, 2021. With the assistance of Michael Formanek on double bass, Mary Halvorson on guitar, Eddy Kwan on violin and Ryan Sawyer on drums, I manage to eke my way through the music I wrote and arranged for this group.
The music from this performance is the same as the CD "Pedernal" that was released in November of 2020 (which is still available on Bandcamp).
There are three groups in this video, Han Bennik's International Contemporary Ensemble (which is well worth watching), my quintet, and Mary Halvorson's "Code Girl" which also features Michael Formanek. Code Girls's set was immediately after ours - they had to rush to another part of the building to play immediately after.
On this link, my quintet starts at the 1:19.45 mark.
Interesting, Susan. That was an amazing quintet of very talented musicians. Do you write out arrangements for all of your music or rehearse and collaborate as to who will play what during a given piece of music? At times there is so much going on such as in "Are You Are." I enjoyed it.
Dan, it will be nice to see you again in Cleveland this summer!
Larry, I'm glad you liked the video. The musicians are indeed really talented, and I feel fortunate that we could record and play together. I've known and played with all these musicians for some years except for Eddy who
For this project, I composed the music and wrote out all the parts. Some of the improvisations in between the written score are slightly scripted - who solos when, but some of the time it can end up with everyone playing (which, with this group, I like). When we come back to the written sections, often there is a specific line written for an instrument to bring us in whenever that person is ready, and other times I visually cue (not easy with both hands on a steel guitar) them in.
For the album, in the fall of 2019 we rehearsed for a day and a half then spent a day in the studio recording. We did two takes of most of the pieces and used whichever one worked best. A couple months later we played at the New York Winter Jazz Festival, and then almost two years later, the Berlin gig. For that one, three of us rehearsed for about 3 hours with Eddy who just seemed to take off with the music.
Amazing, what a lot of work! Well done, you are taking steel guitar to new audiences and in new directions. Congratulations on all you have accomplished.
