I wrote this music last spring as part of my graduation recital. For the concert, I put together a band of close friends, all of them people I had long-standing musical histories with [some I met three years ago when I first arrived to New York, others dating back seven years to the beginning of high school]. At the time, I knew that two of the band members were slated to move away from New York come the summer, and I felt it important to try and document the moment in time before those two left and before I began life-after-college.
I let it sit for a while after we recorded it... then there were some technical hiccups in getting the music off of the magnetic tape and into pro-tools... and then it took some more time to do the sound design... and this past fall I learned that mixing via email across the country is far from the most efficient method... And so finally at the beginning of the new year, my mix-mate and I found a day to sit down in a studio together and finally finish the darn thing.
Needless to say, while finishing the mixes eight months after the initial recording, (and even longer from when I started writing the music), I noticed a good many things I was tempted to change given the benefit of perspective. In the end, though, I opted to let it lie, because the more seasons (and years) through which I dragged out the process, the less it became a "record" (in the most literal sense) of a single place and time. I didn't want it to be like "Leaves of Grass": constantly molding it based on how I found my instincts and tastes to be changing over time. I wanted January 2013 Levon to leave as little of his fingerprints on the final product as possible, because the whole process was initially instigated by a desire for a document of that particular moment, back in May of last year.
If you made it to the end of this, you must be sweaty... or at least, something that you weren't when you began reading. At this point, I just want the music to be heard. I have been sitting on it for far too long. so please download it and share it with as many people as you'd like. I hope you find it enjoyable!
- LH
credits
released January 6, 2013
Levon Henry - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Compositions, and (track 2) Written Word
Patrick Sargent - Alto Saxophone
Samuel Bronowski - Tenor Saxophone
Franky Rousseau - Electric Guitar
Tom Csatari - (track 3) Acoustic Guitar
JJ Wright - Piano and (track 2) Organ
Garret Lang - Upright Bass
Sammy Miller - Drums
Dominic Mekky - (tracks 1 & 3) Samples and Sound Design
Van Dyke Parks - (track 2) Reading
Produced by Levon Henry
Recorded May 20, 2012 at "The Maid's Room" in New York City by TJ
www.themaidsroom.com
Mixed/Mastered by Julian Cubillos in Los Angeles
Additional recording at "The Garfield House" in Los Angeles
Editing assistance provided by Vaughn Sulit in New York City
Cover photo by Pablo Motes
Cover design by Silas Adams
saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Los Angeles, now living in New York City. In addition to recording and performing his own music, Levon works as a saxophonist+ for the ~likes of others.
Straddling the threshold between studio performance and digital technique; the NYC artist applies "fake jazz" principles to synthpop. Bandcamp New & Notable May 2, 2024
A collection of tracks from the singer and multi-disciplinary artist's 111 collaboration series, featuring KMRU, Laraaji, and others. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 25, 2024