Hi folks, it's been a while, so here's some recent news: I've been very happy to see Roads & Codes getting some love in year-end lists, including a mention in Downbeat's Best of 2013 Issue (alongside some heavy hitters!--although I wish they'd highlighted my album cover instead of that cornball Chick Corea-in-shining-armor painting).Meanwhile, Andrew Gilbert of NPR's California Report named Roads & Codes on his list The Golden State of Jazz: The Best California Jazz CDs of 2013, and included some of my artwork.The album also got a really nice mention in James Hale's Best Jazz Recordings of 2013 list (Hale also reviewed the CD for Downbeat, so I'm very glad it ended up in front of him!):
Bay Area trumpeter Ian Carey was the discovery of the year for me. On the inventively conceived Roads and Codes, he made great use of his highly skilled band of improvisers by writing to their strengths—a lesson gleaned from his mentor Maria Schneider. The program—an arty mix of pieces by Neil Young, Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives and his own harmonically pleasing compositions—covers a lot of ground, and does it all well.
Ken Frankling included "The Thread," one of my tunes from the record, on his list of "the 10 best new songs from CDs released in 2013" on his blog Jazz Notes.R&C also made the Top 50 list of Scott Albin of Jazztimes, and the honorable mention list for Ted Gioia's 100 Best Albums of 2013 (any genre!).I'm especially glad to see the record showing up in these lists since it came out in February, so if people still remember it, it must have made quite an impression. I give much credit to the awesome musicians--Fred Randolph, Kasey Knudsen, Adam Shulman, Evan Francis, & Jon Arkin--who made that music with me.
But no resting on laurels, because I'm happy to announce that my new album, Duocracy, will be released in February. The album is an intimate duo session with my amigo the great pianist Ben Stolorow, featuring a selection of some of our favorite classic American Popular Songbook chestnuts, from the well-known ("All the Things...," "Cherokee") to the rare ("Two for the Road," "Little White Lies"). We have two CD release performances scheduled so far: the first in the East Bay, at The Jazzschool in Berkeley on February 21; the second in the North Bay, at Old St. Hilary's in Tiburon on March 7. The CD will hit the airwaves on February 25. Stay tuned!Finally, from my other other career, a little thing I wrote with Darci Ratliff is up at the great literary & humor site McSweeney's today: Things Not to Bring to a Gunfight.Coming soon: part two of my rambling Blues, Authenticity, and the Hopefully Not-So-Abstract Truth. Happy Holidays!