Triosk is an Australian jazz trio that is described as "combination of swinging post-bop with subtle electronic ambience". They are Laurence Pike on drums, Adrian Klumpes on piano and Ben Waples on bass. In 2002 they collaborated with German electronica musician Jan Jelinek to create their album entitled1+3+1. An article in The Australian highlights how "electronica is the freshest jazz ingredient" and tells of Triosk's performance tomorrow at the Brisbane Powerhouse in Sydney. Triosk's web site has a creative design (but is very image intensive) and their label Scape provides a full length sample MP3 track called "On The Lake" that you can listen to. What I really like about this track is how the acoustic bass melds so well with the electronic sounds while retaining its own character and strength. "On The Lake" is a wash of artificial and natural colours - a complex, evolving soundscape that sets a mood but maintains foreground interest through the use of a clearly defined drum riff that repeats throughout. It is definitely one of the coolest things I have heard recently.


  ¶ 11:27 PM

I just updated my Musical Sketchbook with a new track that I created, called the "French Swimming Song". Notice: no xylophones were harmed in the making of this recording!

Hope you enjoy. (Click here to visit the Musical Sketchbook!)
  ¶ 2:55 AM

I like to feature local Vancouver artists on this site....so what is better to do than check out singer and keyboardist Luis Giraldo's CD entitled "Day Dream" which also features Vancouver's Chris Sigerson on piano, and Rick Kilburn on bass. A page at CD Baby has two minute clips from 4 tracks, where you can get a tantalizing taste of Luis Giraldo's rich and romantic voice, as well as some invitingly short glimpses of some of Chris Sigerson's classy and conversational piano solos. Rick Kilburn's warm acoustic bass tone tastefully grounds the music in both harmony and rhythm.

Luis Giraldo's web site reveals a bit more about his background: born in Colombia, he toured with Shakira and several other groups and artists, including DJ Killers, Richard Torrence, and the Peters Drury Quartet. If you are in Vancouver you can catch him playing frequently at places such as the Pan Pacific Hotel or the Wedgewood Hotel. Giraldo also says on his web site that he will give one free CD a month to someone on his email list (which you can join on his web site).

On a totally unrelated note, another purpose of this web page is to provide a diary of my musical experiences... so I present to you a track from a live recording that our group did at a recent private event. (Click here to listen: Footprints.mp3) I'm posting this recording in the spirit of the sharing of musical ideas - so obviously it can't compare to a recording done in a studio!
  ¶ 1:05 AM

Found an article about bassist Ron Carter in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Regarding his relationship with Miles Davis:

While in his autobiography Davis described Carter as his closest associate in the 1960s quintet, the bass player contends that the trumpeter pulled one of his trickster moves on him, purloining a co-credit for the tune "Eighty-One" on the quintet's first album, 1965's "E.S.P." on Columbia. Carter says he knows that by featuring the tune, Davis turned it into an oft-recorded jazz standard that has earned him significant royalties. But money, he insists, wasn't the point.
"I wouldn't have minded if he had said, 'Well, look, since I made this change for you and I made this happen, I'll just share the credit,' but it never came down that way," Carter says. "I was disappointed that he never felt comfortable enough in our relationship to say that to me without fear or favor. "

  ¶ 12:40 PM

Check out the BBC's profile of saxophonist Soweto Kinch. It has some tantalizing audio samples. Kinch, who is partially of Jamaican descent, recently won two trophies in the BBC's jazz awards, as described in this article in the Jamaica Observer.
  ¶ 3:22 AM

On Thursday I went Kayaking with some folks from work. It's fun! It was the first time I went in about 7 years. And it only costs like $20 to rent a Kayak for 2 hours. That's me in the photo...


  ¶ 3:15 AM