About this project

The main theme throughout the Two Shade project will be Balance

A balance between the old and the new. Somewhere inbetween the yin and the yang. Black and white. West and East Coast. A culmination of ideas, concepts, languages to create the ultimate statement of honesty and truth. There is no reason there cannot be peace between all sides.

My goal is to reach musical honesty.

This album will be a documentation of a certain point in my musical development. And it will be a documentation of musical conversations between three friends.

It will have aspects of all the music that I love. Paying my respect to where I came from, but also pointing forward in the direction that I think I want to go.

I feel that being an improviser is to constantly live in the grey area. Never settling, always stretching for more. more harmony, more rhythm, more sound, more music. As I begin to hear more and venture into new unfamiliar musical territory, I take a step further away from where I started, from my homebase. When presenting my music to the world, I hope to have one foot on homebase, and the other venturing toward the future and where I intend to go.

I want people to hear where I come from as well as where I'm going. The tricky part is to do this tastefully.

If I lean to either side too much, I will feel as if though my message is not an honest one. In other words I could just put out an album of bluesy swingin tunes, but that would only cover part of my story.

If I am to reach my goal of complete musical honesty, it will involve a tricky balancing act. Not leaning too far forward; ie trying to play the things that I don't quite hear yet. But also not leaning too far back; ie playing only the language that I initially learned

To create music in the trio format is also a perfect example of a balancing act. With the addition of two musical voices, everyone is playing give and take. I don't want the music to be about roles. Bass player, just play the bass notes. Drummer, just keep time, etc. I respect Joe and Justin's musical visions and I hope to blend all of our voices tastefully.

I want to show respect to the tradition and the great music that has inspired me throughout my life. I also want to show my support and allegiance to the forward movement of this music. I think there is a new level among jazz musicians today, and in order to survive you must be very flexible in your musical conversations. We have to go where the music tells us to go. And to serve the music properly, we must be mature and tasty in what we decide to offer to the music.

The tune selection will be a balance of old material and newer material. A balance of originals and standards.
I want each song to tell a story. I want the listener to be able to envision scenarios that go along with the music.