Riverside Express Liner Notes

This one has a video

Additional thoughts:

The process of writing Riverside Express felt very easy and was done in one sitting. One idea led to another and I really like the short chord progression. I decided not to mess with the harmony too much, so I messed with the rhythm instead. That is how the idea for the miasma of time feels started. The piece would not be as enjoyable if the main theme kept repeating itself. The complete meaning of the piece was determined in the middle of its creation.

This is also similar to the first piece I ever wrote wayyyy back in high school (you know, 2012). The theme was exactly the same and featured an ostinato in a similar key. It was even about being on a train as a metaphor for time passing. Perhaps it is a show of maturity that I’m not titling pieces like, “As the Night Flashes By”.

Influences:

Ambrose Akinmusire is the voice of his generation. A true innovator as a composer and trumpet player. The way he bends the tone of a note is so heartbreaking. This is evident on my favorite composition of his, The Beauty of Dissolving Portraits. I have listened to this track too many times to count and have been disapointed by lackluster reactions of friends and family. Sometimes you like something touched you so much you expect it to have the same effect on others. Cult members must feel so dejected when recruiting. All the tones bleed and droop evoking gorgeous imagery of the piece’s namesake. A perfect example of executing imagery in an abstract sound medium.

Crooked Creek is a very pretty song with some rhythmic complexity. Brian Blade’s writing style features beautiful melodies while also accenting his own complex rhythms. I discovered Crooked Creek as an impressionable college student as we had to play for one of our ensembles. It was, admittedly, a challenge for me to play due to it being in 5. I ended up spending a lot of time trying to fix lines over the time and ended up being better for it. The melody is ear worm worthy: simple, but metamorphosing its harmonic choices enough to scrunch up a listener’s face. So much flavor!

Video Transcript:

“Riverside Express is an abstract expression of the power of nostalgia. It’s about those moments where you visit a place you used to go to often in a previous time in your life, then realizing that you’ll never go back to that time of your life ever again. The metaphor is that you’re on an express train alongside the river of time. So, our goal of this piece was to capture the devastation of that realization.

This piece is made up of three themes. The first theme introduces the initial experience of getting nostalgic which is the melancholy, the beauty, and all that stuff. The second theme represents the jumbling of memories and we do that by stacking rhythmic feels. So most of the piece is in 3. This section feels like it’s in 4 and then we group the quarter notes into groups of 5. So we have 3, 4 and 5 going on at the same time. Which creates a sense of unease in the listener, thereby building the tension. Then we relieve some of that tension in the third theme by introducing the somber melody which represents the mourning and realization that you can’t get that time of your life back. And then at the end, we play all three themes simultaneously to represent the chaotic mix of emotions that strong nostalgia create.

So what I really love about this band is that everybody is really good about inserting their own voice while also understanding the assignment. Everybody does a really good job of expressing themselves while also staying within the parameters of the concept of the piece. And Isaac’s solo, he does like, a really good job of writing his own chapter in the story. So it’s really reflective, it’s very, very melodic, very contemplative, passive. And so when it was come time for me to solo, I purposefully come in blasting just to contradict that. I wanted to show another side of nostalgia through my improvisation. So what I really like about that: it’s kind of like, two sides of the same coin of nostalgia.

So, for the cover art, I commissioned my friend, Cristian Sanchez from college. He’s a really really good comic book artist in his own right. All I did was basically sent him, like, imagery I wanted.

I was just like, “I want trains, I want rivers. However you want to interpret the piece, that’s just how it is.”

And he totally got the brief. So, some things I really really like about the (cover art) piece is that he has this silhouetted figure looking back against the reflection of the pool of water. Which is perfect because nostalgia is kind of a way of reflection. And then he has these upside trains: three of them. Which kind of represents the three themes of the (music) piece. And it just kind of captures the feelings of nostalgia and also fits really well with how the piece sounds. I just really really like how it came out.”

Video is shot and directed by Monica Pabelonio and edited by Noah Hense