Hello folks, thanks to everyone who made it out to our Takoyaki 3 show last week--if you missed it, we've got two more later this month, at Rose Pistola (3/24) and Yoshi's Lounge (3/27). See the end of this post for a free track from the show!It's been really gratifying to see more positive press for Roads & Codes coming in--the most exciting being my first appearance in Downbeat Magazine, where James Hale featured the album in a set of reviews of trumpeters from around the world, and gave it 4 and 1/2 stars:

Bay Area veteran Ian Carey knows it can take creative packaging to get great music noticed these days. Roads & Codes showcases both the trumpeter's sideline as an illustrator and his primary gig as the leader of a highly skilled band of improvisers. Carey takes advantage of their chops by writing to their strengths--a lesson gleaned from his mentor Maria Schneider--and mixes his own harmonically pleasing compositions with pieces by Neil Young, Igor Stravinsky and Charles Ives. While the combination of graphic art and arty covers might sound contrived, it all works.

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Andy Gilbert previewed our release show by talking about the album:

Berkeley trumpeter Ian Carey isn't letting the CD slip into obsolescence without a fight. A graphic designer by day, he supplied the slyly self-mocking manga-inspired illustrations that give the package a look as smart and arresting as the music it contains. Exploring an array of evocative material... and Carey's striking originals--the band features saxophonists Kasey Knudsen and Evan Francis (a former Bay Area standout back briefly from New York).

The great blogger Marc "Jazzwax" Myers featured the album as one of his "CD Discoveries of the Week," saying

Carey plays a seductive trumpet and flugelhorn. On Roads & Codes, the sextet records mostly Carey originals, which are solid, artful and always smartly paced, enabling you to hear and feel their lyricism. Dig "6th Ave. Local," "Count Up," and "Andante," for example. Neil Young's theme to "Dead Man" is a fabulous wild card, since the film is one of my favorite Westerns. Proof that the trumpet and flugelhorn don't have to be overheated blowtorches to be effective.

At eMusic, Dave Sumner added the album to his weekly jazz picks, calling the band

... a sextet that plays bigger than its head count. Expansive sections buffeted by sweeping melodies that bloom into something more than their origins. Interesting cover of Neil Young’s “Theme from Dead Man,” which I’m noticing several jazz musicians adopting as one of the New Standards. The song “Wheels” might be the strongest album track… a waltz with a light touch and the noble elegance inherent to that song form.

Who else is doing "Dead Man," dammit? Nothing new under the sun, I guess. Meanwhile, on the WYCE Music Journal, Rebecca Ruth reviewed the album:

Trumpeter Ian Carey leads the San Francisco quintet on its third release of mostly original compositions of contemporary instrumental jazz. The choice in covers here is interesting. They include Neil Young's theme from a 1995 Jim Jarmusch film, "Dead Man" and Igor Stravinsky's Suite No.1 for Small Orchestra , re-titled "Andante" for this disc. Two original songs stand out, however. The John Coltrane-inspired "Count Up" is a nice bop piece, as well as "Nemuri Kyoshiro", which was inspired by samurai films. One can't review Roads & Codes, however, without mentioning the cover art. Besides being a trumpeter and composer, Ian Carey is an accomplished graphic artist and designer. Motivated by his love of graphic novels, he has designed the cover... besides telling the story of this record, each musician and song sports its own illustration, upping the cool factor.

The jazz blog marlbank gave the album 3 stars and had this to say:

Heavily influenced by Dave Douglas but with a slightly airier sound, trumpeter Carey did the whole of this album in a day with his band in a San Francisco studio, and it benefits from the real time method at work.... Inspired by Jim Jarmusch, and Charles Ives as well as [Kenny] Wheeler, there’s nothing stuck in the mud about this young player and his band.

Interesting how different people can hear totally different influences in my playing--hadn't thought about the Dave Douglas connection in a while but it's true I listened to him a lot in my 20s (when I used to see him at Connecticut Muffin!).Over at KZSU (Stanford), Forrest Bryant wrote this kind capsule review:

Excellent, very thoughtful set from a Bay Area trumpeter leading a simpatico sextet. The ensemble passages are richly layered, the solos flowing and yearning. There’s an overall feeling of calmness, but spiced with a few vigorous surges and a lot of motion just under the surface. Really fine work from these local musicians.

It isn't really a review, but Memory Select: Avant-Jazz Radio wrote an interesting meditation on the challenges as a programmer of being inundated by so many good new albums, and talks about Roads & Codes' cover art and my attempt to grab peoples' attention visually as well as musically:

Bay Area jazz fans know Carey as a trumpeter and bandleader, assuming they know him at all. But he’s also a graphic designer. So, in toying with drawings to go with Roads and Codes, he developed the idea of making the cover a self-referential story about how to connect good music with an audience. And Carey’s music is good. It’s got a cozy modern-jazz sound with a lot of tricks under the surface; it’s stuff that would get airplay on a station like KCSM. But how does one get the music into their ears?

... that's something I thought of this week as I emailed radio stations to confirm they'd received the album, and got lots of responses along the lines of, "I'll see if I can find it among the hundreds on my desk."Finally, the great Ted Gioia sent the following very kind tweet last week: "Today's listening: Roads & Codes, a new CD from jazz trumpeter Ian Carey. A very underrated player, and a talent to watch."OK, enough reviews! For those of you who stuck around, here's a live version of my tune from the album "Count Up," as performed by Takoyaki 3 (with Adam Shulman on organ, and Jon Arkin on drums) at last week's show:Ian Carey's Takoyaki 3 - Count Up (Live)

Hi folks, the long-awaited (by me anyway) day has arrived, and our new album, Roads & Codes, is available for purchase (both physically and digitally) at my new web store, as well as on CDBaby (the only place to get the physical CD so far), Amazon, iTunes, and eMusic. Locals can also pick it up at the great Groove Yard in Oakland (additional stores soon to come).Also, just a quick reminder that tomorrow is our big CD Release & Art show at the Sound Room in Oakland. The band is sounding great and, in addition to all the music from "Roads & Codes," we'll be doing two brand new expanded arrangements of favorite originals from previous albums.WHAT: Kabocha Records and Bay Area Jazz & Arts present The Ian Carey Quintet+1: CD Release & Art Show for Roads & CodesWHO: Evan Francis, flute & tenor saxophone; Kasey Knudsen, alto saxophone; Adam Shulman, piano; Jon Arkin, drums; Fred Randolph, bass; Ian Carey, trumpet, flugelhorn, illustrationsWHEN: Thursday, February 21, 8pmWHERE: The Sound Room, 2147 Broadway (@ 22nd St.), OaklandTICKETS: $15, includes free CD with purchase! (advance tix available here.)Next, some really nice reviews for the album have started to come in, including one in our very own East Bay Express today:

Besides being a clever graphic artist, Carey is a gifted musician who gets a warm sound out of his trumpet and flugelhorn, his approach suggesting Chet Baker, Miles Davis, and Art Farmer. His six original compositions on Roads & Codes not only draw on post-bop traditions but expand on them, particularly in the way Carey imaginatively harmonizes and layers his horns, Knudsen's alto sax, and Francis' tenor sax or flute over pianist Shulman, bassist Randolph, and drummer Arkin's firm yet floating grooves.

There have also been positive reviews from Midwest Record ("champion of a session... solid stuff that never hits a false note") and @CriticalJazz ("on the cutting edge of new sounds and exciting compositions for modern jazz... 4 Stars!").Finally, Phliip Freeman at the music blog Burning Ambulance put together a great feature about the album, including a slideshow of the cover art comic (I'm flattered that he describes it as "Harvey Pekar-esque") and a free streaming track--our version of Neil Young's theme to the movie "Dead Man". Check it out!

Hello folks, one quick announcement and then a free bonus download!First, the announcement: I'm going to be on the Bay Area's great jazz station, KCSM Jazz 91, this week, talking with Alisa Clancy about Roads & Codes (and playing some tunes from the album, too). Local folks can listen at 91.1 on their FM dial, and out-of-towners can stream live here. Tune in to hear me run my mouth off about any number of things!WHAT: Ian Carey interview on Morning Cup of Jazz with Alisa ClancyWHERE: 91.1 FM or kcsm.orgWHEN: Tuesday, February 19, 9amNext, just as a bonus to everyone out there in internet-land, here's a free bonus track from my new album, Roads & Codes. It's an alternate take of my Samurai movie-inspired attempt at a blues Joe Henderson would've enjoyed playing, "Nemuri Kyoshiro."During mixing, I went back and forth about a million times about which take I preferred--the fast and (very) loose first take, or the slightly more relaxed and swinging second take. After picking the brains of many of my musical friends, I settled on the first take. I then promptly changed my mind after last-minute but convincing feedback from another friend--"I know you think your solo was better on the first take, but you're wrong, and here's why"--and put the second one on the album.But, I thought, why not throw Take 1 out there as a bonus? Then people can make up their own minds! So here it is!Ian Carey Quintet+1: Nemuri Kyoshiro (Alt. Take)(w/ Adam Shulman, piano; Ian Carey, trumpet; Fred Randolph, bass; Evan Francis, tenor saxophone; Kasey Knudsen, alto saxophone; Jon Arkin, drums. Recorded 6/5/12 at Studio Trilogy, San Francisco, Dan Feiszli, engineer.)Don't forget, Roads & Codes drops this Tuesday on radio & stores, with CD release show Thursday, Feb. 21 at the Sound Room in Oakland!

Hi folks, hope everything's well and good, and the gigs are as plentiful as copies of "The Da Vinci Code" in a thrift store. Things have been light in that area for me since the unfortunate closing of Coda--though of course the hunt is on for greener pastures on which to do our jazz grazing--but I've been hard at work on writing new music for the group, hitting local jam sessions, plus some good old-fashioned woodshedding. I've also got an exciting recording session coming up with Rob Reich and his fabulous Circus Bella All-Star Band (which could use some support--please chip in a few bucks if you can).In the meantime, some good news--Cadence Magazine, a great in-depth independent quarterly which has been keeping the jazz journalism flame burning since 1976, reviewed my album Contextualizin' in its new issue, and had some really gratifying things to say. Here's the whole review--if you like it, I encourage you to support the magazine and subscribe.

Trumpeter Ian Carey interprets his own compositions (with one exception) on his second album, Contextualizin’, with straightforward melodic lyricism—deceptively straightforward, in fact. The modesty he presents in the liner notes he wrote coyly invites protest. Carey wonders in written form how he would ever be able to make his performances stand out among all of the Jazz trumpeters who exhibit blazing technique in an exclamatory voice. Well, Carey’s voice is declarative in a “discursive” (Steve Lacy’s word) way that draws in the listener with warmth and wordless narrative logic. Carey’s stories suggest one-on-one familiarity, as if he were imparting new information to a friend. As for influences, Carey makes plain that he has an affinity for the cooler trumpeters like Miles Davis or Tom Harrell, instead of those who fearsomely brandish technique for exhilarating effect. In fact, the first track on Contextualizin’ is named “Tom/Tom” after Harrell and trumpeter Tom Peron who likewise value linear improvisational movement throughout a performance while staying mostly in the middle range of the instrument. Carey’s composition is engaging, with prodding anticipations of the beat and vertiginous intervals involving harmonic interplay with saxophonist Francis. Carey realizes that listeners can be drawn into a performance, as well as being startled to pay attention to it. Without so much as merely raising his voice, so to speak, Carey continues through all eight of his compositions to establish moods, varied according to the thematic material at hand, and “discursively” explores them. “Questions,” which follows “Tom/Tom,” involves minor-key suggestions of mysterious forces as the quintet remains subdued and almost hushed until the soloists smolder without the occurrence of actual explosion despite Carey’s intensification of feeling and Francis’ darting and sweeping outlines over the modal basis. Keyboardist Shulman changes the background texture on some of the tracks by switching to Fender Rhodes, even as the horns remain at the forefront of improvisational activity. Although Carey has studied and performed in widely separated cities in the United States, including New York, Reno and Binghamton, his recording career commenced after he moved to San Francisco in 2001. Contextualizin’ is one more result—an opportunity to showcase “discursively” not only Carey’s distinctive style, but also his varied compositional talent. Like most other Jazz musicians, Carey plays standards too. On this album, that standard is “Just Friends,” which in beboppish fashion, Carey’s group transforms into another song based on the same chord structure. The quintet performs “Just Friends” contrapuntally somewhat like Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond’s work on Two of a Mind, except for Shulman’s pointillistic adherence to the melody. Carey’s burnished, technically precise cadenza at the beginning of “Disinvited” suggests infinite possibilities for continuation but few hints of the stop-and-start, teasing melody to follow, subject to the whimsical modification by each of the musicians. Carey intentionally apostrophized the title of his album to invite comfort with his music which attracts listeners to its content. Even so, Carey doesn’t sacrifice technique or depth of thought for his intimations of informality.   --Bill Donaldson

Hi folks, I've been MIA lately but it seemed like a good time to catch you up on music-related news--good, bad, and who knows.First the bad--you'll notice the Quintet's show scheduled for mid-January has been canceled, due to the unfortunate fact of the venue, Coda, following too many clubs to mention into nonexistence. This hits me, and the scene in general, particularly hard, as Coda was the perfect venue for jazz and related musics--the place looked great, treated the musicians well, paid decently, and took an interest in promotion, so of course it couldn't last in the Bay Area. I was asked recently in an interview to name my favorite venue, and I said, "I used to like Pearl's, until it closed. Then I liked Octavia Lounge, and it closed. And Anna's Jazz Island, closed. My favorite venue is any venue that's open." So we can tack another on to that sad list.  (Note the title of the Times article: "Death of Jazz Club Underscores a Changing Scene"--I wish that this represented changing. Seems like the same old same old to me.) Oh well--the hunt for places to play continues.On a more positive note, my album Contextualizin' has been featured on several "Best of 2010" lists recently--the first from The Jazz Page ("Another solid band out of the Chicago area"--close enough, maybe this'll get us a gig there?--"Ian and the Quintet have a nice sound that can appeal to music lovers across the jazz spectrum and beyond"), and the second from Arnaldo DeSouteiro's Jazz Station (I also made the trumpet and flugelhorn lists, with some very heavy company, and Adam Shulman was recognized in the electric piano category). Both give me the warm fuzzies, especially since the record was released so early in the year and has been off the jazz blogosphere's radar for a while. (This would be a good time to put in a word of thanks to Terri Hinte, whose tireless work getting the CD to the right ears has been a huge part of its success.)Another recent plus--my wife and I took an incredible 2-week trip to Japan this month, which was life-altering in at least a few ways. One revelation--I knew the Japanese were into jazz, but I had no idea how ubiquitous it would be. You hear it in cafes, restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, everywhere--and not just the Kind of Blue or Coltrane/Johnny Hartman they occasionally deign to play at Starbucks--I'm talking about some burning shit to accompany your yakisoba or stationery shopping experience. There are also a ton of jazz venues, at least compared to the Bay Area. I was fortunate to make it to a jam session at Intro in Tokyo, which runs every Saturday from 5pm to 5am (!)--that's no exaggeration, either--the trains don't run between midnight and 5, so why not jam while you're stranded? (I left at 3:30am, and the other musicians were surprised I wasn't staying for the whole thing.) Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and plenty of great players over there. I hope to go back as soon as possible. (I should mention that The Ian Carey Quintet would happily sell its own grandmother for some gigs in Japan. Just an FYI.)Finally, a quick update on what's next for me musically--I'm about to start a few months of heavy shedding (that's "woodshedding" or practicing, not shedding fur, although there might be some of that, too). On the agenda is writing new material for the group, hustling up some shows, working on my Okinawan sanshin and reminding the trumpet who's boss. (I'm joking. The trumpet is always the boss.) Stay tuned for updates, and fresh installments of "New to Me," which I hope to make a regular feature. And Happy New Year!

It's that time of year when people start cranking out Top 10 lists like fruitcake, so I thought I'd toss my cake in the ring and do one myself.But since I usually come across new albums via used record stores and word of mouth, I decided my list would be not necessarily the best albums which came out in '10, but the best albums that showed up on my radar for the first time this year (hence "New to Me"). Some of them are actually new! (But most aren't.) Hopefully some of them will be new to you, too.So now, in no particular order, here are ten albums which made my year:David Smith Quintet - Anticipation (2010)Action-packed second album from the NYC trumpeter, who I really admire for both his ideas and his sound, which I can only describe as unabashedly "trumpety." (They manage to do a version of "Satellite" in 7 and sound pretty relaxed.)Sonny Rollins/Don Cherry Quartet - Stuttgart/Copenhagen/Tokyo/Paris 1963Picked up these 4 discs in one fell swoop after realizing I'd never really heard them, and that was a crime. They vary in sound quality, amount of filler material from other shows, etc., but all in all a good snapshot of a strange and wonderful band in what must've been an amazing time to be alive and playing jazz. If I had to pick one, I'd say Copenhagen is most interesting--Oleo! (Hearing Sonny and Ornette on his birthday bootleg reminded me of these a little.)Gary Peacock - Shift in the Wind (1980)Picked this up in a record store in outer Portland called Vinyl Resting Place (!) and proceeded to let it gather dust for a couple of years before throwing it on this spring. Great tunes (some nice ones from pianist Art Lande), well-thought-out mix of changes and free blowing, and a good chance to hear Peacock shining in a non-Jarrett trio.Donny McCaslin - Recommended Tools (2008)Great tenor trio album from one of my recent favorite improvisers. Saw him play many of these tunes live at SFJAZZ in June, which was even better.Keith Jarrett - Death and the Flower (1974)I've obsessed my way through pretty much every phase of KJ's career over the years, but for whatever reason the American Quartet was the last one I got around to. But after a reminder last year from Do The Math I finally picked up the Impulse box, threw it on the iPod, and went for a long run in the Oakland hills while listening to Death and... from start to finish. (The 22-min title track can be tempting to skip. Don't.) By the time it was over I'd found God, as much as possible for a cynical atheist. (BTW, try listening to a bunch of American Quartet, then put on the first track of Standards, Vol. 1, and you get a little sense of what it must've felt like to "come home" to those tunes.)Charlie Haden/Egberto Gismonti/Jan Garbarek - Folk Songs (1979)I've heard this band described as too new-agey, but I think it's way too intense for that. (And Gismonti is a serious badass.) Magico, the follow-up, is great, too. Arve Henriksen - Cartography (2010) & Chiaroscuro (2004)Tuneful ambient collages from this Norwegian trumpeter and sound artist. He managed to find a totally new sound in those old tubes somehow, and I'm hooked.Mathias Eick - The Door (2008)A subtle pack of grooving, well crafted straight-8ths tunes and good playing all around. Felt a little stereotypically ECM-y at first listen, but this record really grew on me.The Holly Martins - no. no. yes. no. (2010)Superhappening voice/alto/guitar timebending swinging power trio. FYI: Lorin Benedict is the new standard for scat singing. (Disclosure: friends of mine.)Kirk Knuffke - Amnesia Brown (2010)Another new-to-me trumpeter with a great, personal sound and ideas out the wazoo. I learned about this set of free-infused miniatures from Doug Ramsay, who hasn't steered me wrong yet.Honorable mentions go to: John McNeil & Bill McHenry's Chill Morn He Climb Jenny (brand new, but already getting in some serious listening on this one), every Steve Lacy album I own (I isolated all his solos and listened to the playlist on shuffle pretty much every day); and--why not--my own album Contextualizin', which came out in February. (I know, pretty shameless, but it really was the soundtrack of my year, and this may be the only Top 10 list it gets mentioned on.) UPDATE: I forgot to mention my friend Sunna Gunnlaugs' great album The Dream! Planning on listening to that more next year.By the way, there are definitely albums which are getting a lot of love this year (Vijay Iyer, Mary Halvorson, The Ideal Bread, etc.) which I just didn't get around to checking out. (More suggestions? Throw 'em in the comments.) With any luck I'll get to them next year, and remain pleasantly behind the curve!