Michael Sarian | "After The Rain"

As New York City was reawakening after a year of lockdown, spring was in full bloom, and a sense of renewal was in the air. Familiar sounds, which had remained distant for so long, were again within ear's reach and working their way back to day-to-day life, ever so cautiously. 

Trumpeter/composer Michael Sarian explains, “throughout 2020 and well into 2021, making music in our homes became a daily ritual, new habits and routines had been built, and with those, new musical ideas came to life within the City's silence. And so, combining these new practices with sounds that inspired hope birthed this new album, After the Rain: Impressions on Daily Sounds and Field Recordings During a Moment of Rebirth and Awakening.

After the Rain is comprised of seven tracks of freely improvised trumpet, flugelhorn, FX and Fender Rhodes over familiar yet unexpectedly new sounds created entirely by Michael Sarian: traveling once again on the NYC Subway system, conversations at a local bar, grilling with family and friends, playing trumpet duets with a student, splashing in the waves at the waterfront, the sound of a light rain in the morning. 

The music on After the Rain offers us, the listener, an unfiltered gaze into Sarian’s life, his humanity, and his consciousness. He paints abstract images of being a working artist in NYC through sound. A sound that beckons, at once powerful and fragile, but always compelling. He is able, as a trumpeter, to tell the story of the human condition, and through flesh, metal, breath and spit we can hear everything from the quotidian to the miraculous; we can hear his declaration as an artist who has something compelling and beautiful to add to the world.  

After the Rain – Track listing: 1. Paper Cranes, 2. Coney Island Bound, 3. Liquid Tempo, 4. That's More Common in Uruguay, 5. I'll Get There, I'll Get There, 6. Silent Waves, 7. Most New Yorkers 

Born in Toronto and raised in Buenos Aires, Michael relocated to New York City in 2012, where he studied with Laurie Frink, Alan Ferber, Brad Shepik, Ralph Alessi and Mike Rodriguez. Sarian has performed at some of the most iconic international stages, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Getxo Blues Festival in Spain, Teatro Colón in Argentina, and at some of New York City's most beloved venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club, Jazz at Lincoln Center, BRIC JazzFest, The Beacon Theater, and Central Park SummerStage. He has appeared on WNYC's Soundcheck with John Schaefer, NPR's World Cafe, and many more.

Sarian's artistic output is as diverse as his background: his second quartet album (following up 2020’s New Aurora) is set for release in 2022 with ears&eyes Records, he has released several duet recordings with pianist Matthew Putman on 577 Records, electronic avant-garde music with Barcelona based pianist Olec Mün on piano and coffee records (with a second set for release in 2022), and several albums with his septet Michael Sarian & The Chabones, most recently LEÓN in 2018 with ZOHO Music. He also performs regularly with his big band, Michael Sarian & The Big Chabones, is a stable member of The NYChillharmonic, the Bette Smith band, among other collaborations and projects. In 2020, Sarian was a semifinalist at the prestigious DC JazzPrix, and a Performer-Composer in Residence at Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity. He is currently artist in residence at Culture Lab LIC for the spring/summer 2022 season.