About The New Music

Both Parallel Universes & Yar are out! Available on iTunes, Amazon & most digital platforms. 

Parallel Universes came about when speaking with guitarist Vinnie Zummo about going into the studio & playing something completely (or almost completely) free. I wrote a short melody that's played at both the beginning & end of the piece. Everything else is totally improvised. The only thing I asked from Vinnie was for him to use many FX. I don't remember if we specifically agreed on it being free of tempo but that's how it came out. It was done in 1 take. I'm on drums. Afterwards I decided to write & recite a poem to accompany it that can be heard on the version with voice. Many FX are used on the voice as well. I think both versions have their own stories to tell. 

Yar is an old Armenian piece that I've loved for a long time. The composer is unknown. After listening to the piece for many years I decided to write down the basic melody just to play at the piano. As I began to play & slowly learn it, I found that, for a few weeks, I couldn't get through it without breaking down in tears. It hit a very deep place in my heart & soul. The only explanation I can think of is that, possibly, I spent another lifetime as an Armenian. I used to play a fair amount of Armenian music & it always spoke to me in a special way. I was planning on putting it on the next CD but, much to my surprise, I wound up recording a demo version that I thought communicated my feelings extremely well. As it was recorded at home with inferior sound quality, I thought it'd just live in my personal archive forever but, thanks to engineer Mike Crehore & his magic touch, it's now out for you to hear. 

I hope you find things to enjoy in both pieces.

Special thanks to Vinnie Zummo, Sam Palumbo, Mike Crehore, Al Houghton & the staff of Dubway Studios in NYC. 

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