Welcome to this page of music. The music posted here spans different times and people involved. Music for me is always a collective endeavor, one in which we come together to perform an inspired piece, rhythmic cycle, melody, solo, or conversation, but more often it is our way of expressing thoughts about fundamental truths and contradictions that are abundant in the world, and in our voices speak to those issues in the only ways we know how. The people who continually inspire me to do music are the people I am fortunate to play with. Here on this site I have posted some recent and not-so-recent music. The recordings by the Brooklyn Sax Quartet, the ensemble Fred Ho and I co-led for ten years, represent two incarnations; the first included Chris Jonas and Sam Furnace (The Way of the Saxophone), the second includes John O’Gallagher and Rudresh Mahanthappa (Far Side of Here). Also represented here is Blood Drum Spirit, the ensemble led by royal hartigan, with Wes Brown and Art Hirahara. Royal, Wes, and I met over 25 years ago, and have been playing together ever since. The earliest recording here is Strawman Dance. Tyrone Henderson and I put together music and words; performances often included the visual work of Quimetta Perle. The ensemble features Wadada Leo Smith, Joe Fonda, and royal hartigan. My most recent ensemble has not yet recorded except in live performance; I look forward to posting some of this when the music is ready.
