Austin August Recap

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[image of duo with Tim Kerr by Beth Kerr]

Just over a month ago I visited Austin for a concert and recording session with the Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble [with Kory Cook (drums), Matthew Frerck (bass), Stefan González (vibraphone), Jonathan Horne (guitar)]; and a recording session for Butch Webster (aka Butcher Bear). This set of creative experiences was wide ranging and inspiring. An unexpected highlight was the chance to record a duo with Tim Kerr (whose commanding rep goes back to the Big Boys, a documentary about the band, “You Can Color Outside the Lines”, is now on the festival circuit (https://www.youcancoloroutsidethelines.com/). This took place at Million Dollar Sound studio on August 17th, cutting saxophone tracks for Butch on material with aspects that reminded me of work by Madlib. I met Tim back in the 90s while he was helping produce an album for Estrus in Chicago. Then in 2001 I got a chance to sit in with his group, Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee, after a set with School Days at Emo’s during Garage Shock held in Austin. Almost every time I’ve been able to get back to town to play he’s reached out to say hello.

The guitar piece Tim brought to the session reminded me of the eloquence of solo music by Fred McDowell and Barre Phillips, where an apparent minimum of means results in maximum impact. I improvised as he moved the form over the course of almost 8 minutes, the piece unfolding and concluding with unforced clarity. I finished recording sax solos over a dozen of Butch’s pieces and then we visited Tim and Beth Kerr at their home. Getting to see Tim’s art studio and hang out with him, Beth, and Butch was fantastic, so much cool portrait work celebrating cultural icons he admires with imagery and words (link: htt ps://www.flickr.com/photos/iseethisway/albums/72157649882609990/). One of those very special days.

Before the Butch Webster session, the Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble reconvened to perform two shows at Monks Jazz Club on Friday, August 14th, reinvestigating the music we performed over the course of three shows in Texas during May. The second concert that night was particularly outstanding, all nine compositions alive with energy. These sets were in preparation for a weekend recording session at Stuart Sikes’ studio. The plan was to set up and get sounds on Saturday, then record all Sunday. Stuart was so efficient on that first day there was time to record as well, and we were able to capture six pieces with first takes. We returned at 11am on Sunday to record the remaining three compositions and were done by 12:30. It was one of the most efficient and musically successful recording sessions I’ve ever been a part of.

This wasn’t luck, magic, or chance. It was due to the hard work and commitment by everyone involved to the same goal- getting the material to the highest creative level through steps in the right order: road gigs to get the music prepared and to repeatedly explore the material and communication between the band members, a concert the night before the studio session to dig deeper into the possibilities of the compositions, having enough time in the studio to focus on quality sound and musicians being able to see/hear each other well enough be able to play as a unit before starting to record. All leading to the group feeling free to really listen and perform versionsj of each composition at a 100% creative level. The objective should be to build on the history of the music by contributing something that wasn’t there before. I feel this was accomplished by the Chicago/Texas Sound Ensemble while in the studio during August. The next steps are to realease this material in 2027, to then tour in the Midwest with the band in order to reach more people with this music.

[photo (left to right): Jonathan Horne, Kory Cook, Matthew Frerck, Start Sikes, Stefan González]