I just returned from another "un-vacation" in New York... "un-" because I was working HARD on music the whole time. The first three days were almost exclusively spent at the home/studio of Malik Ameer (and his wife, Molly); we were putting the finishing touches on our upcoming duo release, home is where the house is. And you know, I have to say this: I think this album is probably the best thing I've ever been involved with- and that includes my non-musical endeavors as well. That said, I'd actually be surprised if anyone (and I mean this) besides me and Malik actually ends up liking it. Who knows? Maybe I'll be surprised. But at least I like it. Maybe it sounds silly to say this, but I think I'm so on board with it because it seems to exhibit a somewhat bigger picture than is normally found in my hopefully detailed, but often myopic work.
And then in the last night of the trip, I hit at the Downtown Music Gallery with vocalist Jen Shyu and percussionist Ches Smith. This was very fun, much like my earlier free-improv start with Jen and Oscar Noriega a few months back. The only thing that sucked was that I was dealing with head cold symptoms during it. I hate that. But musically, this might have been better for the group, because otherwise I could easily have surrendered to the temptation to be a friggin' grandstanding blow-hard.