Super pleased that my pal of twenty years, Mike Shiflet, invited me to be a part of his ambitious follow-up to his Tetracosa release from 2018. He assembled a lot of friends for a Tetracosa Ensemble 24 hour release and then on the same day released a solo version of it. Talk about work!
I’ll just direct you to Mike’s Bandcamp page where you can explore all of his releases including Tetracosa from some years back, the new Ensemble release, and then the new Tetracosa solo release. Enjoy! Here’s the cover of the first volume.
My friend Guy Birkin, who did the art for “This Is My Horn, Vol. 1” and will continue hopefully with the future volumes wrote up a post explaining his process for the art. I’ve long admired his visual art, music, and writing, so I’m grateful for his contribution all around. Read his post here:
Hi all, pleased to share this first release in a series I hope to periodically revisit called “This Is My Horn”. Cover and info below. I’ve also amended some of my approach and all releases are freely available on the Releases page. I will, for now, continue to post them on Bandcamp as well. Thanks to my friends who helped and are credited below.
Connor Bell – sound Guy Birkin – art Josh Mason – text layout Billy Gomberg – words
Most musicians have a passion for listening that matches their passion for playing. Tracing the influences and reflections that end up on a single recording can be a messy task if we commit to real geography of the phenomenon, instead of the poetic, abstracted interpretation we end up listening to and weaving into our own archives.
Connor Bell has been practicing and playing and releasing music for a while (as Shedding and in various bands), and on TIMH he connects his own listener’s passion and musician’s commitment into process and product. Working from his love of solo jazz recordings, Connor approached a design of his synthesizer as something capable of gestures that move through texture and a free sense of melody. An instrument he can play, a language we hear and start to understand.
Leaning back into a wistful bearing on easy tempo solos, Connor’s performance finds overlays of timbre like mutated multiphonics, resisting calm while gathering a soft neon glow as edges appear, suddenly bristling or momentarily melancholy. Given his intention, Connor’s solos hold an inviting space to a listener – robust and skilled, this is deceptively complex music keeping a room warm for you.
