A little background may help
put things into their context...
Growing up in a musical
family, I started playing the piano as soon as I could stand on my toes and
reach the keys. My earliest piano memory is when I would push the pedal
down and play clusters of notes. I would just let the piano ring, listening to
the sound as it slowly died away. I would experiment with high and low,
quiet and loud. I thought it was beautiful, but I'm sure I drove my family
nuts.
Through my piano lessons and
my own investigations over the years I discovered Bach, Beethoven, Debussy,
Chopin, Bartok, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Schoenberg, Schumann, Mozart, Poulenc,
Hindemith, Stravinsky... The list goes on. I always have a stack of
sheet music on the piano to read through and enjoy. I don't have a
favorite composer; I have many, many favorites.
I was living in the Washington
DC area as a teenager. Listening to DC's WHFS in the 70s, you could hear a
huge range of music. That is when I first heard John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu
Orchestra. I was awestruck and dumbfounded by the sheer power and beauty
of that music. As a result, I bought all the Mahavishnu Orchestra LPs I
could find, and I played them so much I wore them out. From there I
went to Miles Davis "Bitches Brew", and that lead to Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter,
Josef Zawinul, Weather Report, and Herbie Hancock. That was it...I was hooked, a bona fide
lifelong Jazz junkie.
Fast forward to more recent
times: The compositions for the "Noises In My Head" CD started with "Time to
Breathe", which we recorded in March of '99. I had recently met Ty Burhoe
when he was playing in a concert in Boulder, so I was busy imagining all of the ways I
could hear Piano and Tabla working together. "Time to Breathe" was my
first piece incorporating the Tabla.
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Ty Burhoe
Tabla
Recording artist and concert
producer Ty Burhoe is the percussionist on the "Noises" CD. Ty
stays extremely busy touring and recording with Zakir Hussain, Kai Eckhardt,
Paul McCandless, Bela Fleck, and Miguel Espinoza, to name just a few
collaborators. Please visit Ty's website at
www.tyburhoe.com. Make
sure to check the discography page.
The Tabla are
a traditional Classical Indian instrument consisting of two hand drums.
The lower pitched drum is made of copper or brass, the smaller one is made of
rosewood. Both are highly resonant and are tuned to a specific pitch.
The lower one's pitch is changed while playing with the heel of the hand, which
means that the Tabla are a rhythmic, an harmonic, and a melodic instrument.
This also means that the Tabla are an extraordinarily subtle, beautiful and
difficult instrument to play. Every time I play with Ty I am astounded at
the range of sounds and rhythms he uses. In these recordings Ty used three
or four of the smaller drums in each tune. This allowed the Tabla to
harmonize with the chord changes, which are not an element of Classical Indian
music.
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Doug Carmichael Tenor,
Alto, and Soprano Saxophones
I am very
pleased to be joined by saxophonist Doug Carmichael on these recording.
Doug and I have been playing gigs together for about 7 years now. Even
when he is just tuning up his tenor sax ( a '57 Selmer ) I just stop and listen
to 'his sound'. Doug's playing is simply magic. Doug holds a M.A. in
music education from the University of Colorado and teaches high school band,
saxophone, guitar and music history.
By the way....Make sure to
support arts education in the public schools !!!
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Erik Habbinga Bass
Erik spends much of his
musical life playing Bass with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra, the Loveland Chamber
Orchestra, and the Timberline Symphony Orchestra. I met Erik doing local jazz gigs,
and I just loved his playing. Doug and I refer to Erik as 'Dr. Time' out
of admiration for his musical perspective. I look forward to upcoming
concerts and recordings with him. During daylight hours Erik is an R&D
software guru for one of those well-known high tech companies.
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Rick White Bass
Rick is a prolific composer
and was just finishing up his PhD at the University of Northern Colorado when we
recorded "Time To Breathe". I met Rick when I was playing a gig with "Just
For Kicks" big band. Between sets I walked next door to hear a jazz combo
in which Rick was playing. During his time at UNC, Rick was an in-demand
player in the area, playing with the top local Jazz talent. Rick
introduced me to Greg Heimbecker at the music studio at UNC, and that is how I
chose to record the "Noises In My Head" CD there. It sure is funny how
these things work out....
Upon completion of his PhD,
Rick took an academic position in the pacific northwest as director of Jazz
studies. We wish him all the best.
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