Project Description

“Scenarios” improvisations for piano & harmonica Duo with Grégoire Maret (ObliqSound - June 2007)

My relationship with Grégoire began in 1999 when he played on a few tracks for my 2^nd CD, “New Age of Aquarius”. It blossomed over the next 5 years while he remained a member of Dapp Theory. In particular, Grégoire & I explored our mutual passion for beautiful melodies by performing a few select standards on Dapp Theory gigs as a way to give air to the more dense textures of the full group. In 2005 I was approached by ObliqSound to do this recording. It was through this invitation that I made a stronger commitment to exploring multiple projects as a way to further my artistic development.

Initially, I composed a few songs specifically for this recording, however many of the tracks on this CD are free improvisations which we created in the studio. In each case, our goal was to listen very carefully to how we could create provocative sounds and scenarios, with an openness to playing our instruments in ways we hadn’t done in the past. Before going into the studio, we did a few gigs in New York at the Jazz Gallery to develop our sound and now that the CD is finished, I can’t wait to return to life performance to continue our collective explorations.

“Dreams & False Alarms” solo piano folk meditations Andy Milne Solo Piano (SongLines - June 2007)

While “Scenarios” was in the early planning stages, my close friend, guitarist Tim Posgate suggested I record a solo piano CD. He even gave me a couple of gigs in Toronto at the Red Guitar so that I could development my conception. A few months later, I had the good fortune of meeting SongLines owner, Tony Reif and he expressed his interest in recording me in solo piano. Great, but what will I record? I decided to mostly perform the music of other composers because generally the bulk of my recorded output had been of original music. I knew I didn’t want to make a standards CD but I knew I wanted to explore the art of the song through material familiar to a broad audience. I chose to mine the folk music of my childhood because I felt this music was rich with meaningful, strong melodic content. Although I was tempted to re-harmonize every nook and cranny of these songs, opted to discipline myself and keep it simple and play the song. My intent was to respect the spirit of the composer’s melody, while looking for personal and creative ways to express my own relationship to the song, without regard to style. I sincerely hope I’ve given each of you a unique and renewed friendship with some old acquaintances.

“Layers of Chance” Dapp Theory (Contrology Records – April 2008)

What can I say? It’s been almost 5 years since Dapp Theory has released a CD and both the band and myself have undergone significant change since “Y’all Just Don’t Know” came out. In May 2006 I was awarded a Chamber Music America “New Works” grant to compose new music for Dapp Theory. Some of that new music came to life in time for this recording, the rest of it will be heard live later this year. The big challenge here was discovering where the new music would take me as a composer, and the band as players. I know that there are fans of Dapp Theory who really enjoy certain aspects of the music in favor of other aspects and although I am composing for where I want to take the music, it was an interesting experience, arranging this music to both represent our concept, as well as create valuable production value for the recording. The reality is, its gonna sound different live. In either case, I tried to layer multiple instrumental textures, infectious grooves, with lush harmonies and poignant lyrics. Hopefully y’all dig it where the band is headed. We’ll be touring North America in the spring and hopefully Europe in the fall.

“Finding Synesthesia” explorations with tap Andy Milne & Heather Cornell

Random but not so random, I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with many of New York’s finest tap dancers over the years. Although Heather Cornell and I haven’t worked together as much as I have with 2 of her former company members, (Roxanne Butterfly and Max Pollack), we’ve been friends since before I moved to New York. Actually she gave me my 1st apartment when I first moved to NYC. Anyway, spent a week at the Banff Centre, creating music that draws on tap’s connection to jazz but shifts the focus from rhythm to blending texture with rhythmic counterpoint, form and melody. The music hints at straight ahead jazz but it’s filtered through a contemporary perspective informed by world folk musics, pop, funk and classical music sensibilities.

“Crystal Magnets” duo piano Andy Milne & Benoît Delbecq (SongLines – Fall 2008)

Now that I’m on a multiple project roll, I’ll tell you about another development. Thanks to another Chamber Music America grant, I spent 3 weeks collaborating with French pianist/composer Benoît Delbecq, creating a CD of duo piano compositions written to explore space and time in terms of the surround sound listening environment. Benoît and I have been friends ever since we met at the Banff Centre in 1990 but this was the 1^st time we’ve had the chance to collaborate. Benoît is an extremely creative spirit so the entire experience was totally inspiring. Ironically, this project found us back at the Banff Centre to create and record this music. We had the good fortune to have the support of the staff there, as well as the input of Amandine Pras, very talented young producer from France.

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