Even though my most recent record, Duocracy, came out way back in February, it's nice to see it still getting attention here and there. This is a natural result, I think, of the constantly overflowing state of the reviewers' inboxes—but just like I will occasionally see a CD laying around which I'd forgotten I bought and end up loving it, sometimes a reviewer will get around to a record long after it's been released. In this case, the reviewer—Peter Hum of the Ottawa Citizen, a very thoughtful writer whose work I've read for years—paired the review with another trumpet/piano duo (Dave Douglas' and Uri Caine's Present Joys, which I have to pick up!). Here are some highlights from his very kind write-up:

With their fine and refined album Duocracy, trumpeter Ian Carey and pianist Ben Stolorow have a fresh and rewarding musical partnership. The album appeals immediately because the two San Francisco Bay Area musicians, both in their late 30s, are both lean, polished players with lots of facility and flow, but the good taste too to never throw in extra notes. Their disc reveres jazz tradition but feels unbounded too, blessed with spontaneity, poise and personality. The album presents savvy selection of 10 tracks... Cherokee, while taken at its requisite breakneck tempo, feels like a walk in the park, with Carey and Stolorow playing freely and expressively. Stolorow’s a sensitive and varied accompanist throughout the CD, but on Cherokee he really shines as he finds different ways to keep the tune moving forward... There’s more jazz cred on a rendition of Thelonious Monk’s striking, finger-stumping tune Four In One. ... Versions of Gigi Gryce’s Social Call, which saunters nicely, and Comin’ Along, a contrafact built on the chord changes of Benny Golson’s Along Came Betty, keep the bop flame burning. On those and a few other tunes, there are stretches of tandem, contrapuntal improvising that stand out for their clarity and simpatico. Trumpet and piano duets pop up infrequently in jazz. Don’t ask me why. And yet, Carey and Stolorow make the pairing sound like the most natural and rewarding team-up going.

Overall I've felt that the press Duocracy received mostly focused on the "straightahead-ness" of the record, and failed to hear the ways that Ben and I tried to take the album out of the standards-jam-session model—especially those "stretches of tandem, contrapuntal improvising" Hum mentions above—so it's gratifying to hear from someone who really picked up on that.

I am under no illusions that the Down Beat Critics Poll is an absolutely objective affair where artistic merit is the only factor (how would you even do that?)—so I absolutely am not getting the idea that I am in the "top" (whatever that means) 20 non-famous ("jazz famous," that is) trumpeters out there (since I can think of several even within a few square miles of here who regularly kick my butt all over the bandstand), but still—this is nice!

What I take it to mean is that at least a few people (somewhere between 5 and 27) who know this music very well remembered who I am, and that they enjoyed my playing, when filling out their polls—which in this day of hundreds of jazz records released every month is not something I take for granted.

However, I have to say that I'm pretty sure two very big factors contributing to my cracking this list for the first time were:

• I released two albums in two years; and

• I hired a very good publicist to promote them.

I know there are many outstanding trumpeters out there who either didn't release as frequently, or weren't able to hire someone to bug reviewers to seek them out in the deluge, and they're at a disadvantage. The whole publicity discussion is one for another time, but I've made my peace with the fact that even though a good publicist can encourage a reviewer to dig through his or her overflowing inbox and give a particular album a spin, it doesn't guarantee the reviewer will like it. (As a few reviews I could've done without can demonstrate.)

That said, I'm absolutely glad the critics remembered me (even though my last record came out way back in February—practically the stone age!), and I'm especially glad to see so many deserving friends, teachers & colleagues—Evan Francis! Dayna Stephens! Maria Schneider! Reggie Workman! Satoko Fujii! Donny McCaslin! Ben Goldberg! Howard Wiley! Kirk Knuffke! Jacob Garchik! Mike McGinnis!—showing up elsewhere in the poll. I hope we all get more gigs!

(P.S. For an interesting and very detailed breakdown on how one voter approached the ballot, read this.)

Hi folks, it's been a while since my last update. As you can see, I've redesigned my whole site from scratch; the reasons were a) it was time, and b) I've been learning some new tools and this was a good opportunity to put them to use--for the design-nerd details, I created the site as a whole in Adobe Muse, the homepage animation in Edge Animate, and the blog is still in Wordpress with a customized template (since Muse doesn't yet have its own compatible blogging engine). Please have a look around--there are now pages for my projects, albums, a new bio, my design & illustration portfolio, a list of upcoming events, and you can let me know what you think at the new contact page!Gigs-wise things have been interesting--I've got at least two more hits with Circus Bella this summer, had a really challenging and interesting show with the great Satoko Fujii at Duende (I hope they'll continue their adventurous programming now that Rocco Somazzi is leaving), and am busily preparing for the world (!) premiere of my new piece for Quintet+1, "Interview Music"  (if you follow the jazz media at all you'll get the joke/reference), this September at the California Jazz Conservatory. Ben Stolorow and I have also just confirmed Duocracy's first San Francisco appearance, at Bird & Beckett in October.Finally, I'm overdue to give you a "New to Me" installment—here's a quick rundown of some of the music that's been on heavy rotation in my ears lately.The top five:

• Israel: The Music of Johnny Carisi — I can't overstate how deeply this record has bowled me over since I picked it up (on Marc Myers' recommendation) earlier this year. So intricate, so creative, so swinging--it's everything I aim for in my own music.
• Olivier Manchon: Orchestre de Chambre Miniature — This random used CD pickup was a lucky find. Gorgeous small-group string writing by this French violinist, lush harmony, creative textures, layered through with solid blowing by John Ellis and Gregoire Maret (who I was lucky to get to play with a few times in NYC). This is listed as "volume 1"—I hope more is on the way because this one is over way too quickly.
• Hindemith: Kammermusik 1-7 (Berliner Philharmoniker/Claudio Abbado)  — This is a bible of modern contrapuntal technique. Drop the (virtual) needle anywhere for an immediate sonic bath of virtuosic counterpoint and texture. He makes it sound so easy (maybe it was for him). The cello-focused #3 is my current favorite, but they're all amazing.
• Villa Lobos: Wind Music  — As much as I love Hindemith, he can sometimes feel a little dry emotionally—the first time I heard this record, it made me think of a more soulful (and due to the Brazilian connection, inevitably more reminiscent of jazz harmonies) version of a Hindemithian texture. The duo, trio and quartet are all great. I am stealing lots of stuff from this record.
• Halvorsen/Fujiwara/Formanek: Thumbscrew — I was lucky to hear these guys last month during their Duende residency (where else would that ever happen outside of NYC?) and was really floored. All three players are forces of nature, and the tunes are perfect vehicles for what they do best. (Although they do just fine without tunes as well, as demonstrated by the all-improvised second set they did with perfectly attuned sitter-inner Ben Goldberg when I saw them.) This (as well as the Satoko Fujii show) has really inspired me to get into more free playing.

Other records I've been crazy about lately include:

• Darcy James Argue: Brooklyn Babylon
• Donald Byrd: How (with incredible string charts by Clare Fischer)
• Jimmy Giuffre: New York Concerts
• Charles Mingus: Pre Bird ("Half-Mast Inhibition"!)
• Henry Cowell: Piano Music
• Kirk Knuffke: Chorale  (Finally got to hear him live recently with Todd Sickafoose--one of my favorite young trumpeters cornetists)
• John Swana: Bright Moments (My friend Lorin turned me on to Swana, who is a mother$#&* of creative changes-playing and sounds equally scary on trumpet and EVI)

... plus a bunch of other great stuff I'm forgetting! Anyway, that's a good start. Stay tuned for more news about "Interview Music" and part 2 of "Blues, Authenticity, and the Hopefully Not-So-Abstract Truth."

Hi Folks,I wanted to let you know about three shows I have coming up this week (all as a sideman for a change!) as well as a very gratifying radio appearance.First, I'll be playing with the phenomenal pianist & composer Satoko Fujii and her 12-piece Orchestra Oakland this Wednesday at Duende. Fujii has had an illustrious career performing with luminaries including Paul Bley, Mark Dresser, and Myra Melford. The band will also include a who's-who of local creative musicians including Aaron Bennett, Larry Ochs, Jordan Glenn, Jon Raskin, and many others. This will be my first time playing Duende (I've seen some great shows there) and I'm looking forward to it.WHAT: Satoko Fujii Orchestra OaklandWHEN: Weds., June 18, 9pmWHERE: Duende, 468 19th St., OaklandHOW MUCH: $15Next up is a rare band-only appearance by The Circus Bella All-Star Band--we spend all summer backing up the circus troupe but it'll be nice to have a chance to just rock out on Rob Reich's great original compositions. With Reich, accordion & guitar, Ralph Carney, reeds & toys, Greg Stephens, trombone, Michael Pinkham, drums, & me. Also appearing will be Beat Circus (from Boston) & dancer Rose Harden.WHAT: Beat Circus / Circus Bella All-Star Band / Rose HardenWHEN: Thurs., June 19, 8:30pWHERE: Amnesia, 853 Valencia St., San FranciscoHOW MUCH: $7-10Saturday, I'll be joining pianist Betty Shaw, drummer Ron Marabuto and bassist Adam Gay for some midday jazz & pizza at the Cheese Board in Berkeley.WHAT: Betty Shaw QuartetWHEN: Saturday, June 21, 11:45a-2:45pWHERE: The Cheese Board, 1512 Shattuck Ave, BerkeleyHOW MUCH: Free!Finally, I'm very flattered that composer, saxophonist, author and historian extraordinaire Bill Kirchner has decided to devote an episode of his great radio show "Jazz from the Archives" to my music. His description: "Carey (b. 1974) is a San Francisco-based trumpeter/composer/arranger of uncommon resourcefulness. His writing for two-horn quintet and three-horn sextet is much more than the theme/solos/theme format usually heard from those instrumentations. We'll hear selections from three CDs by Carey and other longtime Bay Area colleagues." The show is broadcast on WBGO on the East Coast, but you can tune in online at WBGO.org.WHAT: Jazz from the Archives: Ian Carey: Contextualizin'WHEN: Sunday, June 22, 8pm (Pacific)WHERE: WBGO.orgThanks!

Attention Everyone!This Friday, I'm very excited to be bringing my Quintet+1 (with pianist Adam Shulman, bassist Fred Randolph, drummer Jon Arkin, alto saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, and multi-woodwindist Sheldon Brown) back to that great spot in downtown Oakland, The Sound Room (site of our really enjoyable CD release show for Roads & Codes last year--see some footage here). We've had some great rehearsals and the band is sounding fantastic, especially on the new music. (We'll also be hitting new arrangements of some of our "greatest hits.")That would be exciting in itself--since I really love playing with them and it's not easy to book a six-piece band these days--BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: you'll also get to hear ANOTHER OUTSTANDING SEXTET, the Nathan Clevenger Group ("a sound that stands out from the crowd" - Andrew Gilbert, KQED).Nathan is an outstanding composer/guitarist and his music has been consistently inspiring to me since I first encountered it, not least because we've had a habit of hiring some of the same great musicians. (He also writes for bass clarinet like nobody's business, which inspired me to ask Sheldon to add that big axe to my music as well--come on out to hear the results!)So please don't miss this opportunity to hear TWO six-piece composer-led bands playing new, original music. Each group will be performing one long set--Nathan's group will go first, with my group following around 9:30.WHAT: New Music for Sextets: Ian Carey Quintet+1 & Nathan Clevenger GroupWHEN: Friday, May 23, 8pmWHERE: The Sound Room, 2147 Broadway, OaklandTICKETS: $13 adv., $15 doorHope to see you!

Musical Folks:I wanted to give you an advance heads-up about a very exciting show I've got coming up next month--I'm happy to announce that my Quintet+1 (with pianist Adam Shulman, bassist Fred Randolph, drummer Jon Arkin, alto saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, and multi-woodwindist Sheldon Brown) will be giving its first performance of 2014 by returning to that great spot in downtown Oakland, The Sound Room (site of our really enjoyable CD release show for Roads & Codes last year--see some footage here).Even better, we'll be sharing the bill with one of my favorite local ensembles, the Nathan Clevenger Group. Nathan is an outstanding composer/guitarist and his music has been consistently inspiring to me since I first encountered it, not least because we've had a habit of hiring some of the same great musicians. (See a tune from the Group's most recent amazing performance here.)Each group will be performing one long set of new original music and selections from our recent albums. (Nathan's group will go first, with my group following around 9:30.)WHAT: New Music for Sextets: Ian Carey Quintet+1 & Nathan Clevenger GroupWHEN: Friday, May 23, 8pmWHERE: The Sound Room, 2147 Broadway, OaklandTICKETS: $13 adv., $15 doorMore details to come, I hope to see you all for what promises to be an exciting show!