MORE ABOUT DREAM CYCLES
By the end of 2020, my debut album was almost entirely composed, recorded and produced, however, little did I know that I was about to experience a huge obstacle in the process of completing it: a chronic, debilitating shoulder injury. In March 2021, I literally could not lift a cup of water by myself with either arm. Needless to say, I was not able to play or practice.
This was not the first time in my life I had experienced this type of injury— throughout my four years of high school, I had crippling tendinitis in both forearms and only learned later in my 20's that it was most likely due to a nerve disease I have called Paramyotonia Congenita, which prevents my muscles from resting and recovering like most people's, causing extra stress and tension on my tendons and ligaments.
While unable to play, I developed my own ear training methods, transcribing solos and chord progressions by ear, listening with acute concentration to recordings of my favorite musicians (Robert Glasper, Brad Mehldau, Danny Elfman, John Williams, Stephen Sondheim, Maurice Ravel, and others), and somehow, I was able to advance my playing through the combination of mental practice and limited time at the the piano, being accepted into may prestigious educational programs and finally being selected to attend the Brubeck Institute Fellowship Program in 2009 with Corey Fonville, Chad LB, Nick Frenay, and Zach Brown.
Only now, in mid-2022 have I finally recovered from my injury, but I was reluctant to finish the album, feeling I wanted to wait until I was back to my absolute best.
Meanwhile, I kept my Youtube and Instagram profiles growing exponentially, releasing content regularly even throughout my injury by using my limited playing time to continue to grow my online presence to over 88,000 YouTube subscribers and 111,000 followers on Instagram.
It took a year, but slow and steady physical therapy, acupuncture and dedication helped me overcome my injury. In early May 2022, I drove up to my 1917 Mason & Hamlin Baby Grand Piano Upstate in my hometown of Syracuse, NY determined to finally show what I have to offer as a composer and player. I recorded all of the piano for the album over the course of 2 days, then quickly went back to NYC to mix it with the decorated mixing engineer Dave Darlington.
The album is now ready for the world, and I couldn't be more excited to release it.
As a film and game composer with a masters degree from NYU in Film Scoring and a book about Video Game Composition released on Oxford University Press (The Game Music Handbook), I believe it showcases my cinematic hybrid sound of underscore / jazz. This is particularly reflected in the second track on the album, "Cloud Sailing," which displays through-composed form and motivic development with improvised chords and melodies, as well as a distinct combination of modern jazz and film-influenced harmony.
Thank you so much for your time reading this story and I hope you enjoy listening to the album.
-Noah