Hi folks, the first single from the new album Fire in My Head: The Anxiety Suite is officially out! It’s the second movement, titled “This Is Fine.” Enjoy the video below, featuring solos by Adam Shulman, Fred Randolph, and me, with Kasey Knudsen, Sheldon Brown and Jon Arkin.

The album got a really nice (p)review in the East Bay Times/Mercury News from Andrew Gilbert:

Cooped up in our abodes, strategizing about how to acquire food and other necessities and uncertain about the pandemic’s course, we’re all experts in anxiety these days. El Cerrito trumpeter Ian Carey feels our pain, and he’s created an ideal soundtrack for these disquieting times. His new album, “Fire in My Head: The Anxiety Suite” (Slow & Steady), was composed and recorded long before COVID-19 became a household name, but it’s about as tuned into the zeitgeist as an N95 face mask. Evoking anxiety itself isn’t hard. But Carey does something far more interesting: The five-movement suite unfolds like a stream-of-consciousness interior conversation, with recurring themes, counter themes, digressions and roiling rhythms that mimic a pulse driven by encroaching dread. But his extended forms and through-composed passages leave plenty of space for deep breathing.

Hello folks! The day that I've been waiting for, obsessing over, and in a state of near-panic about for the past several years is almost here—I'm talking, of course, about the midterm elections Tuesday. (Vote!) But I've also been doing pretty much those same things in anticipation of the world premiere this Sunday evening of my new piece Fire In My Head (the Anxiety Suite) at SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab (joined by my longtime partners in crime Kasey Knudsen on alto saxophone, Sheldon Brown on bass clarinet, Jon Arkin on drums, Fred Randolph on bass, and Adam Shulman on piano).

Some back story: a few years ago I wrote a suite for my Quintet+1 called Interview Music, which was purposefully not about anything. I wanted to let the music stand on its own, and while I don't regret that decision, in retrospect 2016 was a not a good year to be "above the fray," artistically speaking.

So when I was very fortunate to receive a grant (from Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works program) to compose a new major work for my band, I decided to write about something I've been struggling with on a personal level for ages, and that pretty much everyone I know has been dealing with on an hourly basis since, oh, late 2016: anxiety.

Fire In My Head is my five-part, 50-minute attempt to translate that emotional cyclone into music. But one thing I discovered in the process is that, just as my wife pointed out to me that "even your happy songs have an undercurrent of anxiety," even my intentionally anxious material can't seem to help but to also reflect hope and a desire to create beauty and connection.

So please join me and my bandmates (who have been working their butts off on this challenging material—see a sneak peek below) Sunday at 6pm or 7:30pm for this opportunity to hear original music by local musicians at the beautiful SFJAZZ Center! Buy tickets here.

ALSO: I'll be talking about the show (and giving away some tickets!) with Alisa Clancy this Thursday morning at 9am on KCSM Jazz 91. Tune in or listen online.

Hello folks! I am very excited to announce the premiere next month of my new suite Fire in My Head, which was commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Jazz Works program.

The piece, which ranges from straightahead jazz to chamber music and beyond, is a 50-minute, 5-movement exploration of the topic of anxiety, which is something I've dealt with personally for a long time and that many of us have recently been forced to deal with on a community level. I wrote the piece for my long-time musical partners the Ian Carey Quintet+1 ("a highly skilled band of improvisers" –Down Beat), featuring Adam Shulman, piano; Kasey Knudsen, alto saxophone; Sheldon Brown, bass clarinet; Fred Randolph, bass; Jon Arkin, drums; and me on trumpet. (You can get a taste of the piece in the video below.)

I'm especially excited to be premiering this work at SFJAZZ's Joe Henderson Lab. Tickets are now available for both shows (6pm and 7:30pm). Please don't miss this rare chance to hear original music played by great local musicians in this beautiful space!

ALSO: I will be on our local treasure KCSM Jazz91 talking about the show with Alisa Clancy on Thursday 11/1 at 9am. Tune in or listen online here!

Hello folks! I'm very excited to tell you about a special performance this Friday (11/3) at 8pm, at California Jazz Conservatory (aka The Jazzschool) in Berkeley. I'll be bringing my brand new genre-bending septet Wood/Metal/Plastic (with Alisa Rose and Mia Bella D'Augelli on violins, Jessica Ivry on cello, Kasey Knudsen on alto saxophone, Lisa Mezzacappa on bass, Jon Arkin on drums, and myself on trumpet), performing a new book of original music (by me) ranging from chamber music to straightahead jazz to free improvisation.

We'll be joined by a true treasure of the Bay Area musical scene, the Nathan Clevenger Group, led by my friend the guitarist and composer, and featuring Rachel Condry on bass clarinet, Cory Wright on tenor sax, clarinet & flute, Tim DeCillis on vibraphone and percussion, plus Kasey, Lisa and Jon (who will be doing double duty in both bands). The Group has released two acclaimed albums and notable recent performances include SFMusic Day, the Switchboard Music Festival, and a featured night as part of the Best Coast Composer Series at the SF Center for New Music.

BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! After our individual sets, the two groups will be combining, Voltron-like, to an 11-piece "superband" to perform two brand new compositions which Nathan and I have written specifically for this concert.

Tickets available here! Don't miss this chance to hear two (really three!) adventurous ensembles for the price of one! And check out a preview video of Wood/Metal/Plastic below.

Hi folks, I'm very excited about our Wood/Metal/Plastic premiere next Friday at The Sound Room in Oakland. The music is really coming together and I'm looking forward to getting it off the page and into your ears! (Tickets here!)Last night I had the chance to visit the great local DJ and music writer Larry Kelp's "Sing Out" show on KPFA to talk about the project and share some rehearsal audio. You can listen to the show here (for two weeks I believe).And here's some footage from our recent rehearsal with snippets of several tunes. It's a little rough around the edges as we were still working on the music, but should give you a taste of what kinds of things we'll be up to at the show. Hope to see you there![embed]https://youtu.be/KjxSO7ltRG0[/embed]

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.