As I wrote in the liner notes to Strange Arts, when this music was recorded in summer 2019, what I didn't know was a lot. I did not expect that by the time it was released my world and everyone else’s would be so unimaginably different. I didn’t know that within a few months we would all be locked down in fear, with music-making the last thing on our minds. I didn’t know our country would soon face a racial reckoning and an attempted coup. And I didn’t imagine life without my father or the years of dealing with the logistical and emotional fallout of that loss.

I certainly didn’t realize that I was unconsciously creating a testament to all the ways his art and mine evolved on similar paths, even as I had (mostly accidentally) followed his career trajectory through music and design.

Five years and an epoch later, the finished album is finally here! It features my 7-piece ensemble Wood Metal Plastic—with stellar Bay Area artists Lisa Mezzacappa, Kasey Knudsen, Alisa Rose, Mia Bella d'Augelli, Jess Ivry, and Jon Arkin, expertly recorded by John Finkbeiner—and explores the connections between my compositions and my dad's intricately creative artwork (which is featured throughout the album design). You can listen to and purchase the album (in CD or digital format) at Bandcamp (which is the most artist-equitable of the streaming/retail services) or stream it wherever you listen.

Album Release Show Sunday April 7 in Oakland

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We'll be celebrating the album release with a special performance on 4/7 at 3pm at Oaktown Jazz Workshops in Jack London Square (just across the street from Yoshi's), which will feature original members saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, and cellist Jess Ivry, plus drummer Jason Levis, violinist Irene Sazer, and another special surprise guest on violin. 

CDs will be available, along with signed original Philip Carey envelope art and books, and a selection of his other artwork will be on display during the concert. I hope to see you there!

Hello listeners! I just wanted to tell you about some exciting shows coming up. Things in the world are awful and difficult and sometimes it feels like our little artistic endeavors don't amount to a hill of beans, but sometimes music does bring us together (and it can be a way of working through these crazy emotions—see Fire In My Head below), so I'll keep making it and hopefully you'll keep listening to it. I hope to see you at one or all of these shows!

Circus Bella presents "Ring Out Loud!"

Shows Through June & JulyCircus Bella presents its 10th Anniversary Circus in the Parks season (dedicated to the memory of our longtime friend and bandmate Ralph Carney), with shows throughout June and July at locations all across the Bay Area! With live original music from Rob Reich and the Circus Bella All-Star Band (including me)!View the schedule here.

Nathan Clevenger Group (Pocket Edition)

Saturday 6/16, 8p, Jupiter, BerkeleyNathan Clevenger is one of my favorite local composers and bandleaders, and it's always a (really freaking challenging) treat to play with his group. With me on trumpet, plus Cory Wright, woodwinds, Lisa Mezzacappa, bass, and Jon Arkin, drums.

Jazz Inside Out with Jim Nadel & Friends

Friday 6/22, 8p, Campbell Recital Hall, Stanford UniversityIf you’re new to jazz and wonder how the musicians all play together without any sheet music, this special Festival kickoff concert is for you. Even if you’re a longtime jazz fan but still aren’t clear on when jazz musicians are improvising and when they’re not, SJW Founder and Artistic Director Jim Nadel will demonstrate with his horn and his band of top-notch players.

Fred Randolph Quintet

Sunday 7/15, 4:30p, Bird & Beckett, SFBassist and composer Fred Randolph brings his quintet to the great SF jazz & culture hub Bird & Beckett in Glen Park. With Sheldon Brown, saxophones, Ian Carey, trumpet, Dan Zemelman, piano, and Greg Wyser-Pratt, drums.

Class: Modern Jazz Improvisation

6 Weeks Starting Tues. 7/10, The Jazzschool at CJC, BerkeleyReady to take your improvisational toolkit beyond bebop licks, modes, and blues scales and into the sonic worlds opened up by artists like McCoy Tyner, John Coltrane, and Woody Shaw? This course will look into three different approaches for developing melodically compelling ideas for use in a wide variety of harmonic situations. (Basic knowledge of jazz harmony required.)Register here.

Save the Date! The Ian Carey Quintet+1: Fire In My Head: The Anxiety Suite (World Premiere)

November 4,  Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ CenterThis November, I'm thrilled to bring my Quintet+1 to the SFJAZZ Center for the first time. We'll be premiering my new piece Fire In My Head (The Anxiety Suite), which was commissioned by Chamber Music America and deals with themes of anxiety (both personal and on a community-wide basis). With Sheldon Brown, woodwinds, Ian Carey, trumpet, Kasey Knudsen, alto saxophone, Adam Shulman, piano, Fred Randolph, bass, and Jon Arkin, drums.More info & tickets here.

Hi folks, I'm excited to be teaching two 6-week courses this summer at California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley (aka The Jazzschool). Here are the details:

Playing the Changes

[embed]https://youtu.be/4fP7eTMtMoE[/embed]About the course: A structured and in-depth study of techniques for playing harmonically specific jazz lines that “nail the changes.” Students develop the ability to improvise lines that clearly suggest a tune’s underlying harmonic progression in melodically compelling ways. Emphasis on mastering the II-V-I progression in major and minor, turnarounds, and standard jazz harmony. Lots of playing in class. Students should bring their instrument and manuscript paper to each class session. Prerequisites: knowledge of major and melodic minor scales. Tuesdays 8:15–9:45 pm; 7/11–8/15. You can find out more or register here.

Modern Jazz Improvisation

[embed]https://youtu.be/1BqRtKk8XuI[/embed]Ready to take your improvisational toolkit beyond bebop licks, modes, and blues scales and into the sonic worlds opened up by artists like McCoy Tyner, John Coltrane, and Woody Shaw? This course will look into three different approaches for developing melodically compelling ideas for use in a wide variety of harmonic situations. Beginning with the applications of pentatonic scales, the course will progress to the simple technique of combining pairs of major triads (and the six-note scales that result), and finally intervallic pairs, in each case examining their use in major, minor, and sus chords, a variety of dominant chords and ii-V-I progressions, and modal or chromatic contexts. Finally we will explore methods to integrate these new ideas into the student’s existing language in a natural and non-contrived way. (Basic knowledge of jazz harmony required.) Tuesdays 6:30–8 pm; 7/11–8/15. More information and registration here.

Hello folks! It's been a happily busy musical spring so far (in spite of the daily horrors of the news), and I wanted to let you know about a few upcoming events.

CJC Workshop: Fluency in All 12 Keys

This Sunday (4/9) at 11:30am I'll be at California Jazz Conservatory/Jazzschool in Berkeley, kicking off the Contemporary Jazz Improvisation Workshop Series, a four-part educational series for musicians featuring different local players exploring a variety of topics. My focus will be "Developing Fluency in All 12 Keys," and I'll be looking at several strategies  for getting comfortable in the intimidating key signature-hinterlands. Open to anyone with basic knowledge of jazz theory, and also available on a single class-basis. Registration info here.

Asian American Orchestra at SFJAZZ Poetry Festival Sunday (4/9)

Sunday evening at 8pm, I'm excited to be joining Anthony Brown's Asian American Orchestra and SFJAZZ Poet Laureate Genny Lim at the Joe Henderson Lab as part of the SFJAZZ Poetry Festival. We'll be performing our updated version of Max Roach's We Insist: Freedom Now Suite (with new poetry by Lim). Information and tickets available here.

ESO in San Francisco (4/16)

On Easter Sunday evening (4/16) from 6:30-9pm, I'll be back with the indomitable Electric Squeezebox Orchestra (directed by Erik Jekabson), which has been holding down its residency at Doc's Lab in North Beach for over two years, performing only original arrangements by members of the band and other local composers (like me!). We'll be joined by a special quest, the phenomenal clarinetist Ben Goldberg. More info here.Finally, for no reason other than that it's good, here's some video from my performance last month with the Adam Shulman Sextet. Enjoy![embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVT0wHwLRZ8[/embed]

Hi folks, I'm going to be offering a workshop on February 18 (at 11:30am) at California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley on triad-pair-based scales and how to use them. (That sounds more complex than it really is, but these scales have become a big part of my own language.)Here's a short video with a little preview:[embed]https://youtu.be/iPXQxgmZSIY[/embed]The workshop is open to anyone with basic knowledge of jazz harmony and you should definitely bring your instrument. You can find out more about the class and register here.

Hello folks! It's been a stressful couple of months, but I've been trying to Be Like Bob (above) and channel it all into the music. The end of 2016 brought some gratifying mentions of my album Interview Music in year-end top ten lists, including The Mercury News ("an exquisite balance between [Carey's] ambitious compositional vision and his design to showcase his superlative cast of improvisers") and Bird is the Worm. And I feel fortunate to have some exciting events coming up, including...

Bryan Bowman Quintet in Berkeley & Vallejo

This introspective group plays the swinging, forward-thinking music of drummer and composer Bryan Bowman (you can listen to a track from our 2015 album Like Minds here), and features some of my favorite players: Bob Kenmotsu on tenor sax, Matt Clark on piano (and Luke Westbrook on guitar), and John Wiitala (and Dan Feiszli) on bass. We're going to be playing twice this month: on Saturday, January 14 at 8pm we'll be at the great new Berkeley venue The Back Room ($15); and on Sunday January 15 at 5pm we're at the historic Empress Theater in Vallejo ($20), sponsored by the Vallejo Jazz Society.Other local shows this month: Don Alberts' Renaissance Band at 7 Mile House in Brisbane on Tuesday January 24, and Tony Corman's Morchestra with Nic Bearde at Bach Dancing & Dynamite in Half Moon Bay on Sunday January 29th at 4:30p.

Jazzschool Workshops: Giant Steps & More

For those of you who are students of the music (of any age): I'm offering two workshops at California Jazz Conservatory's Jazzschool Community Music Program's spring session:Stepping Into Giant Steps (January 21): A two-hour deep dive into one of John Coltrane's most famous and challenging compositions, geared towards taking the fear out of those gnarly chord changes.Modern Improvisation: Triad Pair Scales (February 18): Want to learn to navigate familiar chord changes in an interesting new way? This workshop takes a deep dive into the technique of creating and using versatile six-note scales by combining pairs of triads.And just a reminder: I'm also available for private lessons!

Coming in February: IC Quintet+1 in Berkeley & Healdsburg, Takoyaki 4 in SF

I'm thrilled to have two opportunities to play with my Quintet+1 (Adam Shulman, Sheldon Brown, Kasey Knudsen, Fred Randolph, plus special guests Hamir Atwal and Steven Lugerner) next month:

• On February 17, we'll be at The Back Room in Berkeley for an event sponsored by the great local organization Jazz in the Neighborhood.
• On February 23, we'll be playing at the after-party for "Jazz on the Menu" at Costeaux in Healdsburg, presented by the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

I'm also looking forward to playing with my organ-based group Takoyaki 4 (Adam Shulman on organ, Hamir Atwal on drums, and special guest James Mahone on tenor) at local institution Bird & Beckett Books in San Francisco on February 25.Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon!