As a 25-year veteran of pushing the
boundaries of modern composition, prolific musician Joe Garrison is getting set
to introduce his most adventurous project yet.
Releasing April 7, The People Upstairs is the follow-up to
2013’s Veranda, which the San Diego Troubadour favorably compared to the
ground-breaking work of Oliver Nelson while also landing in NBC San Diego’s Top
10 jazz releases that year.
Produced by multi-instrumentalist Lori Bell, the new opus
consists of 5 movements, with each of the first four featuring a different horn
(flute, flugelhorn, clarinet, bass trombone), while the last highlights the
entire ensemble. The music moves back and forth between tightly composed and
radically improvised. Garrison explains, “In my mind I envisioned the
instruments being personifications of a family, or group of people who have
moved in upstairs. Somehow a cat, a bird and a kite are involved. They probably
have been living here for a long time, but they're definitely observing the
proceedings. I like to think that The People Upstairs turn out to be the
musicians - and beyond that, anybody who hears the recording.”
“Moving Day” jump-starts the wild and wondrous action before
side-shifting through the space time continuum on “The Balcony, 3am.” Elsewhere
“The Cat, the Bird and the Kite” elegantly explores an ethereal dimension,
providing an emotional counterpoint to the dizzying ascension of “2nd Floor
Man.” The final step up the Stairs is to behold the elegiac beauty of “The Two
Stars,” which is based on a poem Garrison wrote about what happens in a
relationship when one of the members dies. Profoundly moving, “The Two Stars”
represents the sole track Joe performs on.
Clocking in at 41 minutes, the intricate and visceral
compositions on The People Upstairs recall the eclectic veracity of John Cage,
who decreed “All music is music when you let it flow.” It’s a mindset Garrison
has championed throughout career, fusing jazz, classical, rock, Indian,
Indonesian Gamelan, Japanese, stride, medieval, and minimalism into his
amalgamations, so it’s only natural that his music doesn't really fit in, yet,
unequivocally, draws you in.
Commissioned by local music event, Rusefest, in 1989, Night
People’s sole ongoing purpose has been playing original, creative, modern jazz,
usually in large ensembles, using instruments not normally associated with
jazz, such as oboe, French horn, flute, and bass clarinet. While the collective
expanded to 19 members at a KSDS Jazz Live concert in 2015, The People Upstairs
is configured as a septet throughout the main suite before increasing to nine
on closer “The Two Stars.” Joining Garrison on this vast musical journey are
acclaimed jazz and classical musicians, Lori Bell (flute), Dr. Ariana Warren
(clarinet, bass clarinet), Derek Cannon (flugelhorn), Brian O'Donnell (bass
trombone), Melonie Grinnell (piano), Tim McNalley (electric bass), Michael
Hayes (drums) and New York French horn player Nicolee Kuester, who commissioned
Garrison to compose the project.
Receiving classical training at UCSD, CSU Fullerton (BM),
and University of Colorado at Boulder (MM), where he gained expertise in music
composition emphasizing indeterminate and minimalist approaches, Garrison’s
compositional process draws from the entirety of his life experience and
traditional study. Having participated in many styles of music, from tightly
composed to freely improvised, he has found a middle ground. Improvisation and
through-composition are employed as structural elements serving his musical
forms, thus opening up space to provide contrast and distort time while
maintaining forward motion.
In addition to the works of Cage, Garrison has been
influenced by innovators from all eras, including Leonin and Perotin, Claudio
Monteverdi, Hector Berlioz, Igor Stravinsky, Harry Partch, Terry Riley, John
Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, Charles Mingus, and Miles Davis. When
pressed for a reflective Garrison comparison, he suggests, “Stravinsky with a
rhythm section.”
During his illustrious career, Garrison has played keyboards
with the the likes of Tambau's International Orchestra, Ruse Collective, Ira
Liss' Big Band Jazz Machine, Bob McMahon's Real Band, Koko Pelli, and Immediate
Freedom Latin Jazz Ensemble.
He has also performed with Daniel Jackson, Gilbert Castellanos, Rob Thorsen, Ben Schachter, Derek Canon, Tim
McMahon, Tambau, Bill Caballero, Burnett Anderson, Gene Perry, Mark Lamson,
Kevin Delgado, Gunnar Biggs, Kim Kimmery, Steve Feierabend, Larry De La Cruz,
Dave Millard, and Kamau Kenyatta, who won a Grammy for producing Gregory
Porter’s Liquid Spirit.
JOE GARRISON and NIGHT PEOPLE
The People Upstairs
1.Moving Day (flute feature)
2. The Balcony, 3am (flugelhorn feature)
3. The Cat, the Bird and the Kite (clarinet feature)
4. Everyday's Again - (bass trombone feature)
5. 2nd Floor Man
&. The Two
Stars (French horn, Alto flute, piano)
Joe Garrison - Piano (track 6 only)
Lori Bell - Flute/Producer
Dr. Ariana Warren - Clarinet/Bass clarinet
Derek Cannon - Flugelhorn
Brian O'Donnell - Bass trombone
Melonie Grinnell - Piano
Tim McNalley - Electric bass
Michael Hayes - Drums
Nicolee Kuester - French horn
Tour Dates:
4/08 - San Diego, CA @ Dizzy’s (Record Release Show)
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