DAN CAVANAGH AND JAMES MILEY, ON GRAND PIANOS, PARTNER WITH RENOWNED DRUMMER JOHN HOLLENBECK ON THE INSPIRED NEW ALBUM ANOTHER LIFE

Original compositions by Cavanagh and Miley, plus an expansive take on Lorde’s “Royals” and a Radiohead/Jerome Kern mashup

Releasing Oct 21, 2022 (Japan) & Nov 18, 2022 (Worldwide) on S/N Alliance

Imagine the possibilities for voicing and orchestration afforded by two pianos — two hand-crafted Shigeru Kawai SK3 grands, to be precise — when played by such accomplished masters of the keyboard as Dan Cavanagh and James Miley. On Another Life, their new album for duo piano, synths, and the extraordinary GRAMMY-nominated John Hollenbeck on drums, Cavanagh and Miley are in the finest virtuosic form, not only as players but also as sound designers and forward-thinking artists. What was originally intended as a launching pad for an arranging project for big band, Cavanagh recalls, seemed to cry out for documentation in its own right: a two-piano group with additional electronics.

Spurred in part by the pandemic, Cavanagh and Miley found themselves in their respective corners adding further sonic dimension to Another Life with Logic and MIDI, using synthesizer packages to thicken and color the timbres, accentuate melodies and bass as well. “The electronics pieces took place over time,” says Cavanagh, “with James and I sending versions back and forth over a few months. It was, in some ways, a very group-compositional process.”

At that point, Cavanagh adds, “we decided it would be great to add percussion or drums. James and I both love John Hollenbeck’s drumming and have for years, and his compositional prowess certainly added to the focus of the project (all three of us are composers).” With his unerring beat and approach to sound and dynamics, Hollenbeck perfectly suits the repertoire that Cavanagh and Miley bring to light on Another Life. “Once John sent us his drum tracks,” Miley recalls, “we re-envisioned the electronic aspect of the project, dropping synths from five of the nine tunes entirely. The end result sounds as if we all dropped into the studio and recorded live as a trio. That’s all John.”

Miley further specifies some of the electronics that were employed: Logic Studio with Arturia’s Analog Lab IV, Mini-V and Stage 73, Spectrasonics Omnisphere, and Apple’s own Sculpture plug-in. “The sub bass on ‘Stealing Amsterdam,’ ‘The Dawn Wall’ and ‘Another Life’ is just a subtly tweaked stock patch from Apple’s workhorse ES-1 analog synth plugin,” Miley reveals. “Who knew?”

What anchors the set, however, is the authoritative acoustic piano playing that Cavanagh and Miley each bring to the table. With formidable technique and beauty of tone, these fine improvisers take flight, divvying up plentiful soloing space in these welcoming compositions. By way of identification: Cavanagh solos first on the opening mashup, Miley second; on “Stealing Amsterdam” and “Evening Falls” it is Miley first, then Cavanagh. On “Kapo’i” it is Cavanagh only.

In addition to the three pieces by each of the co-leaders and a wholly spontaneous duo improvisation, there are two finely executed pop arrangements: “Royals” by Lorde, marked by its gloriously sludgy bass tones, and “All the Things in Their Right Places,” which juxtaposes Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place” with Jerome Kern’s ubiquitous jazz standard “All the Things You Are,” taking each tune to new places harmonically.

“I was very honored to be asked to play on this project,” Hollenbeck says. “Dan and James had clear concepts, great charts, and pristine recordings, so it was up to me to try to make this sound like a band — a normal objective for any drummer, but it took on new meaning here. I tried to treat it like a live session, going through all the tunes in a day as if we were playing them live. I’m now looking forward to doing exactly that with the guys, as soon as possible!”

About the Artists
James Miley is Professor of Music at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where he coordinates the jazz and improvised music program and teaches classes in composition, music for visual media, and music theory/history. As a pianist, he can be heard on Bug’s The Gadfly; Pieces, by the Hashem Assadullahi Sextet (with Ron Miles); and Pulse, by Dan Cavanagh's Jazz Emporium Big Band (all released on Origin/OA2 Records), as well as with the improvisational music group Trio Untold on PJCE Records. James is a recipient of the IAJE/ASCAP Gil Evans Fellowship in Jazz Composition and a founding member of the Radiohead Jazz Project. His compositions and arrangements for big band have been performed worldwide.

Dan Cavanagh is Professor of Music for the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Arlington. He has written or arranged for the Latin GRAMMY-winning AfroBop Alliance, the legendary Patti LaBelle, and a wide range of classical and jazz performers across North America and Europe. He has released four CDs as a leader, including Pulse (big band) and Heart of the Geyser (piano trio) on OA2 Records, and two with vibraphonist Dave Hagedorn, Horizon and 20 Years. His writing continues to be commissioned, programmed and recorded across the world.

John Hollenbeck, Professor of Jazz at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, has translated the traditions of jazz and new music into a fresh, eclectic, forward-looking language of his own invention, intellectually rewarding yet ever accessibly vibrant. He is widely acclaimed for his work with his flagship groups the Claudia Quintet and the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble. His awards and honors include six GRAMMY nominations, the 2012 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, the 2010 ASCAP Jazz Vanguard Award and a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship.

二台のピアノが、こんなにも美しく透明に響くものなのか。そしてドラムの音色が、その空間に魔法をかける。

演奏家、作曲家として似た様な音楽性と美学を持つ二人のピアニスト、Dan CavanaghとJames Miley。旧友であり、それぞれ教授としての顔を持ち、共に名高い大学の音楽科にて教鞭を執り続けている。そんな二人が2018年の春頃、予てより計画していた二台ピアノコンサートを実行に移しライブ録音を行った。共に学んだ地であるオレゴン州にて、二日間に渡り開催されたそのコンサート。そこで二人が作り上げた音世界は見事なものだったが、残念ながらその美しさは録音には反映されず、ライブアルバムとしてのリリースは断念した。しかし、それを機に意欲が更に増し、改めて二台ピアノ＋シンセサイザーでのアルバム制作を企画し、2019年12月に同じオレゴン州にあるスタジオで遂に録音を開始したのだ。KAWAIの計らいで二台のShigeru Kawai SK-3が用意され、職人の手により丹念に作られたその二台のピアノにより、二人の世界は更に広がりを見せた。そして、いよいよシンセサイザーを追加していく工程に移ったタイミングで、新型コロナウイルス感染症が世の中を席巻し始め、制作も一時中断。その後、数ヶ月の時を経て再開し始めるも「まだ何かが足りない」と感じ、直感的に電子音ではなく、実際のパーカッション／ドラムの音が必要だと二人は確信した。そこで第一に名前が挙がったのが、以前から二人とも親交のあったドラマー、John Hollenbeckだ。作曲家としても高く評価され、唯一無二の存在であるHollenbeckが加わり、この音楽は大きな進化を遂げ、この変則トリオとしての完成形へと導かれた。

偶然の重なりが必然に変わる。そして最終的には元にいた場所に戻り、求め続けていた世界へと。Cavanaghの教え子でもある福盛進也のレーベル、S/N Allianceからこのアルバムがリリースされたことも、運命的なことだろう。

「Another Life」

この時代に、この世の中だからこそできあがった音楽。そして、そこから開かれるいくつもの扉。進んでいけば、いずれ、全てがあるべき場所へと辿り着くだろう。