36
Well, I’m 36! How about that. As this birthday was approaching, it occurred to me that it’ll now have been 18 years since I started really playing as a sideman (when I joined Terence Blanchard’s band at 18). Since then, I’ve been fortunate to work with and record with so many great musicians. Realizing that I’ve now been doing this for half my life, and reflecting on that, I found myself getting nostalgic. I don’t typically make a habit of going back to listen to older recordings that I’ve played on, but my curiosity won out and I ended up kinda going down a rabbit hole with it. I was often amused and frankly a bit horrified to discover how much youthful frantic scampering I now heard in some of the piano solos, as well as my sometimes ham-handed and unsubtle approaches to comping, both of which occasionally pulled me (the 2019 listener) out of the flow of some otherwise beautiful tracks. But I was also struck by some great compositions that I had almost forgotten about, by some stretches of inspired individual playing and synergistic band chemistry, and most of all by some of the music which just had a vibe that I was into.
So I started selecting some of my favorites, and after whittling it down a bit, I ended up with a playlist of 36 tracks (which is still way too much to listen to in one sitting, but is at least thematically coherent). It’s sequenced in no particular order other than for variety and flow. Don’t worry, there’s not a piano solo on every tune. This isn’t meant to be some kind of greatest hits compilation. It’s more of a collection of music that I’m glad to have been involved in the making of, and that I thought some of you might enjoy hearing. Maybe there’s some recordings on here that you don’t know yet. If you find something you like here from an artist new to you, check out more of their work and consider buying their music.
By the way, if you’re someone that I’ve recorded with but an album of yours isn’t represented here, I’m sorry! There was a lot to choose from and I couldn’t include something from everyone — I still love you, probably.
Anyway, happy birthday to long-winded me. Hope you enjoy the music!
October 2019.