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Liner Notes
As we press keys, as we strike drums, as we pluck strings, we send sounds shimmering into the air, ranging out like bees to hum and buzz in the ears of anyone who might be near. The exchange between the bee and the flower is coded into their genes, orchestrated over millions of years. But even though music itself is older than language, the exchange between musician and listener is constantly evolving.
Trio Untold’s music, completely improvised in the confines of the recording studio, sounds carefully sown, and intently cultivated. Where some improvised music sounds like a fight between broken-down robots, or like old friends catching up after years apart, this music sounds like a garden. Sure, the shadows around the potting shed get spooky at night, and a family of raccoons lives in the old truck that rusts away in the corner, but that just keeps it interesting. The best gardens surprise as much as they nurture.
Flowers are a sure sign of a fertile present, and from a biological perspective, an expensive yet necessary investment in the future. They are the substance of hope transformed into a commotion of color and scent. And music is the same—beautiful sounds spent like a down payment of idealism, hoping for a return in opened hearts. Musical styles change, and so do the physical and economic conditions of music making. But the evergreen optimism of creating and sharing music stays the same.
– Liner notes by Douglas Detrick
Track Listing and Album Credits
ALL MUSIC FREELY IMPROVISED IN THE STUDIO
1 – Bending Toward the Light (5:51)
2 – The Language of Smoke (9:36)
3 – Metamorphosis/Homecoming (8:07)
4 – Fourteen Ways to Say Everything (13:43)
5 – Artifacts (6:39)
6 – …because a swarm of ghosts told me so (6:30)
7 – Welcoming You (at the Gate) (9:31)
Total time, 59:57 minutes
All tracks © 2018 by Ryan Biesack (ASCAP), James Miley (ASCAP), and Mike Nord (BMI)
Mike Nord guitar, electronics
James Miley piano, electric piano, synthesizer
Ryan Biesack drums, cymbals, percussion
Executive Producer: Ryan Meagher
Produced by Trio Untold
Engineered by Mike Nord
Recorded June 2017, January 2018, and February 2018 at Ford Studio, Salem, Oregon
Mixed by Todd Sickafoose at Earycanal, Eugene, Oregon
Mastered by Daniel Eaton at Little Castle Mastering, Los Angeles, California
Mike Nord plays a Manny Salvador Guitarcraft guitar
Ryan Biesack is a Crescent/Sabian Cymbals Artist
Fender Rhodes Mark I Suitcase 88 restored and modified by George Stone
This recording was made possible through the generous support of the Atkinson Fund for Faculty Development at Willamette University.
Purchase in our Bandcamp store: https://pjce.bandcamp.com/album/trio-untold