Sept. '24

2024 September 26th, Catskill Listening Club Offerings

In attendance this month were Abigail Simon, Jeff Economy, Steph Spera, Bradford Reed, Rodney Greenblat, David Garland, Rhys Tivey, Jimmy Garver, and Rebecca Bray.At the outset we had a really great conversation about "getting one's music out there" and the difficulty of reaching people when around 100,000 songs are released every day. The frustration, the futility, and ultimately the thrill of performing music live with a group of like-minded people. A fitting sentiment at the outset of a club meeting which ended in a beautiful live performance by newest member, Rhy Tivey.

Rodney Greenblat is preparing to release a new album called Karma Coins. He shared four songs with us tonight, each under 2 minutes. We talked about the clear, strong presence of his Moog sound, the fact the he utilizes what's called linear drumming, and the Drift software synth from Ableton. These songs are magical - strange and catchy and beautifully crafted.

KarmaCoins-4songs-Preview.mp3

Bradford Reed shared two songs with us: one completed a few days ago and another that was made 20 years ago. The newest track, called Cloud Trap is a meditation and a journey. It felt a bit like a dusty, simmering trek, circling thru the desert. We talked about the strange bass line sound underneath that no one could really pin down. Brad brought the second song because a few meetings ago, he was asked if he had ever composed anything with a trombone. This piece, called The Story of Snow, is for a small brass ensemble. The two songs are very different - 20 years apart. This brass piece is more formal and contained, with clear sonorous agreements. Bradford said that he enjoys playing much more than composing for other players - the notation can become tedious.

cloud trap 092424 ip-normalized.mp3

The Story Of Snow.mp3

David Garland recently released four new albums! When asked tonight to share a song that is "in his blood", he played this one for us. Lux Temporalis is the jewel in the middle of David's 2018 opus Verdancy. It features Arone Dyer on vocals.

Find Lux Temporalis here, and most all of David's incredibly varied output at his bandcamp page davidgarland.bandcamp.com

Rhys Tivey recently moved from Brooklyn to Troy and is the club's newest member. Welcome Rhys! He shared a really lovely rendition of his song "Ten Out Of Ten", played live by him on a (wobbly) acoustic piano and trumpet.

Find all things Rhys Tivey here www.rhystivey.com