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]

Hello folks! Here's an update about some upcoming performances I'm really excited about. Hope to see you at some of them!Nathan Clevenger Group in OaklandThis Thursday night (9/1) in Oakland, I'm thrilled to be playing again with one of my favorite bands—the Nathan Clevenger Group ("includes many of the scene’s leading figures, but he’s created a sound that stands out from the crowd... he makes brilliant use of the many colors at his disposal.” –Andrew Gilbert, KQED). In addition to Nathan's guitar and compositions, this version of the group includes Kasey Knudsen on alto sax, Rachel Condry on bass clarinet, Jason Levis on drums, Lisa Mezzacappa on bass, Tim DeCillis on vibraphone, and myself on trumpet. The show is at Octopus Literary Salon in downtown Oakland, a cozy cafe that's been putting on some extraordinarily happening shows. (The show starts at 8, and the opening act is Bristle, another astounding chamber music-meets-free improvisation unit.) More info about the show here.Ian Carey Quintet+1 at SFMusic DayFor the past few years, the great local arts organization San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music has been presenting an annual day full of free chamber music at the SF Veterans Building, and this year, on Sunday, September 25, I'm very happy to bringing my Quintet+1 to participate (along with a cast of hundreds including heavy hitters like Kronos, Rova, Myra Melford & Ben Goldberg, and many more). We'll be playing a half-hour set at 3:30 in the Education Studio. More info here.Electric Squeezebox Orchestra Meets Brazil!I'm also excited to be playing several times this month with the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, SF's great original big band, back at Doc's Lab in North Beach after their summer break. Sunday, September 4, I'll be performing with the band, playing their usual (but unusual!) assortment of music all written by members of the band (including me!). The following Sunday, Sept. 11, we'll be joined by special guest the Brazilian saxophonist Spok (aka Inaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque), performing the music called Frevo, which he has pioneered in Northern Brazil. More about this show here.Also...A reminder that my new album, Interview Music ("an incredible piece of music… a superlative work.” —Brad Stone, The Creative Source, Soul and Jazz Radio), is now available on CDBaby, Amazon, and iTunes.And just because, here's a video of an improvised duet that my friend the great trumpeter Darren Johnston and I recorded before a gig last month at opposite ends of the huge Festival Pavilion building at Fort Mason (with its 8-second reverberation). Enjoy![embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWNTj3xZVOE[/embed]Improvised Duet, Darren Johnston & Ian Carey, trumpets. Festival Pavilion, Ft. Mason, San Francisco, August 21, 2016.

Hello Folks! I wanted to let you know about some exciting musical stuff coming up that I'm glad to be a part of.Firstly, the Ian Carey Quintet+1's next album, Interview Music, was recorded this past weekend at the legendary Fantasy Studios in Berkeley (in the same room as "Don't Stop Believin'", if you can believe that). The band put a herculean effort into a very long day (and my pain in the @#$ compositions) and I couldn't be happier with the result. The album is on track for a fall release.Speaking of which: the Quintet+1 (Kasey Knudsen, alto sax; Sheldon Brown, bass clarinet; Adam Shulman, piano; Fred Randolph, bass; Jon Arkin, drums; and me) will be returning next month to the great downtown Oakland venue The Sound Room. The show is on Saturday, May 16th, so please save the date for what should be a very exciting show.I'm also excited about a new album I was fortunate to record with the great local drummer and composer Bryan Bowman and his quintet (with saxophonist Bob Kenmotsu, pianist Matt Clark and bassist Doug Miller). The album, titled Like Minds, features many of Bryan's beautiful compositions. The CD release show for the album will be held Thursday, May 7 at 8pm at Bird & Beckett Books in SF.I've also been playing quite a bit with two very interesting big bands, both dedicated to original arrangements--which is especially great since just a couple of years ago the Bay Area seemed to be becoming a big band dead zone.  The first is guitarist/composer Tony Corman's Morchestra, which will be playing this Friday, April 24 at 8pm at the California Jazz Conservatory (aka the Jazzschool) in Berkeley. In addition to Tony's beautiful charts, we'll be joined by a special guest vocalist, the great Ed Reed.The other big band is the Electric Squeezebox Orchestra (led by trumpeter/composer Erik Jekabson), which features a who's who of local heavies and only performs arrangements written by members of the group. I was lucky enough to play on several tunes of their upcoming album Cheap Rent and have been playing fairly often with the group (and they've been gracious enough to play one of my compositions). I'll be joining them at their regular (free!) Sunday night residency at Doc's Lab in SF on the following Sundays: 4/26, 5/3. 5/24, 6/7, 6/21 (all shows from 6:30-9pm).And later on in the summer, I'm excited to be playing for the first time with one of my compositional and bandleading idols, Nathan Clevenger, so stay tuned for details.Finally, I'm planning on expanding both my musical instruction and graphic design business in the next year, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you know someone interested in trumpet, improvisation, or composition lessons, or who is in need of graphic design assistance.Thanks and hope to see you at a show soon!