Eastman Projects

The following projects are, unfortunately, of the past. They were formed during my time at the Eastman School of Music.

threecital

threecital is the name of my senior recital that occurred on February 26, 2002 (my birthday!). I was so fortunate to be able to play with some of the best musicians I have ever known. Here is the full list: Malcolm Kirby, Ted Poor, Ryan Ferreira, Red Wierenga, Nathan Heleine, Chris Wicks, Lynn Ligammari, Jose Encarnacion, Josh Rutner, Dan Pierce, James Hirschfeld, Mike Williams, Mike Dowden, Mark Bobnick, Jason Price, Eli Asher, Andre Canniere, and (lastly and leastly) Evan Drummond. We played compositions by myself (check out scores), Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Ralph Alessi, and Herbie Nichols. Someday I may give the threecital its own page and fully explain the title, but not today.

Respect

The Respect Sextet consists of (left to right in image): Steve "Red" Wierenga (piano, accordian, melodica, misc.), Josh Rutner (tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, melodica, misc.), James Hirschfeld (trombone), Malcolm Kirby (bass), Garrett Michaelsen (trumpet, flugelhorn), and Ted Poor (drums, pots, pans, other percussive things). This group has been performing every Wednesday night at a local Rochester coffee shop, Java's, since September 2001 and still does. Eli Asher (see GBA below) is my more than capable replacement. In addition to compositions by various members of the group, Respect also plays the works of numerous other composers, many of which are underrepresented and grossly unappreciated. These composers include Misha Mengelberg, Herbie Nichols (see recording in sounds), Richard Twardzik, Albert Ayler, Tim Berne, and more. A recent project put on by the group was a concert of exclusively the music of Misha Mengelberg. Respect has self-released two CDs, Respect and Respectacle.

GBA: God Bless America

Starting in the fall of 2000, three trumpet players got together for the sake of our country, before such a thing was in vogue. They meant to liberate all the oppressed peoples of the world by liberating the sounds on their instruments. GBA consists of Eli Asher, Jason Price, and myself. Even though the group has been an entity for about a year and a half, they made their performance debut at my threecital in February. The group improvises and performs music by myself, Eli Asher, and others, including Charles Mingus and Elliott Carter. Concentric Circles (see scores and sounds) was written for this group in February of 2000. Finding new ways to abuse lips while improvising is paramount to this group. Other performances include Eli Asher's senior recital and a concert of "galactic space" at Christ's Church.