The Yuba Rift Project | Healthy Doses | Jazz Quartet Live | Jazz/Fusion Improv Trio | Skitzo Sessions | Current Music
The Yuba Rift Project
(2000 - 2001)
All of these recordings were done with a 16mm Sony video camera microphone that was in the doorway of our basement rehearsal-area, and then transferred to my computer.
This musical project was ultimately a fusion/instrumental project, which evolved two different times during a 14-month period. It started in the fall of 2000 with Wayne Silver (Seer) on guitar, Nate Trier (Healthy Doses) on keyboards, Jason Golden on bass, and me on drums. We wrote the majority of the material with this lineup that ended up being used throughout the evolutions of Yuba Rift. In 2001, Nate had to leave us to pursue his dream of being a financial editor on Wall Street (ha-ha), and we acquired 18 year-old Jim Dunstan to take his place.
Healthy Doses
(1998 - 1999)
The Healthy Doses was a fairly well-known jam band on the Mid-Atlantic scene from Fall 1998 to Fall 1999, and then incurred a major line-up overhaul for Spring 2000. They played many major "hippie" festivals, such as the 12am-7am slot at Wilmer's Park and Phish's 80,000-person Oswego Festival in the summer of 1999. Any given week you could find the Doses at either East End Cafe or Deer Park Tavern on Main Street in Newark, DE. The songs were recorded by Mike Tate at one of the two Main Street venues.
Visit the Healthy Doses MySpace page to hear 3 studio-recorded songs with this line-up.
Jazz Quartet
(August 26, 2000)
This group consists of Rick Lowenberg on guitar, Josh Berger on bass (first public performance on bass guitar), Nate Trier on keys, and me on drums. We rehearsed 2 times for this show for a total of about 3 hours. It was one of those "winging-it" shows, and turned out a lot better than we expected. Ironically, this group never played together again because Rick immediately joined Brothers Past as the drummer, and Josh joined Naked Fish as their bassist. Nate and I started Yuba Rift around the same time. The recordings below were recorded by Dave Muddiman.
Jazz/Fusion Improvisation
Trio
(October 16, 2001)
These clips are excerpts from a drunken jam in my basement. 18 year-old Jim Dunstan, his friend, bassist Tony Domato (also 18), and I decided to improvise for 2 hours and see where it took us. Mike Tate came over, set up his recording gear, and we just started playing. I recently sifted through the jams and found some moments of interest throughout the 2 hours that I thought would highlight the sessions. This was unique because it was the first time we had played together as a trio and I had an uncanny connection that day with Tony. I had just consumed 2 "Ultimate Long Island Iced Teas" and possibly 3 beers while celebrating my birthday with a friend at TGI Fridays across the street before the session! I'm surprised I could play drums at all!
Skitzo Sessions
(1994 - 1998)
One of my best friends in high school was Brad Cox. Back in the 1990's we would spend our entire summers working out the parts to Brad's songs during the day. Then we'd go into the local studio to record, mix and master the songs in a single session. I'd play drums and bass guitar and Brad would play everything else. Everything was recorded on tape, and we only had 16 tracks to work with so at times we'd have to get creative! We never used a click track and usually recorded the drums and rhythm guitar in the first take. Then we'd spend hours playing with vocal effects, bass lines, guitar tones, beer, and pizza. It was definitely some of the most fun I've had with music. We released three albums during that time. Today, Brad and the band Skitzo Calypso have become one of the premier bands in the Baltimore-area.