The Moment of Now

TRACKLIST:

01) Without A (Or)Net [alto sax, drums] 7:52
02) Chez Bechet [soprano sax, drums] 3:05
03) A Little Jungle Fever [bass flute, drums, log drum] 2:24
04) Homecoming [tenor sax, piano, drums] 2:27
05) Leaning Forward [drums] 0:59
06) Here Comes The Man [tenor sax, drums] 5:03
07) Smells Like Trouble Ahead [tenor sax, drums] 6:09
08) A Knock At Midnight [alto sax, drums, log drum] 5:12
09) Waxing Brasilian [flute, drums] 3:29
10) Who’s There [drums] 1:57
11) Velvet Like Elvis [bass flute, drums] 1:26
12) Scrambling Eggs [tenor sax, drums/cymbal] 5:20

Homecoming & Smells Like Trouble Ahead composed by Jeff Coffin (Otani Music/BMI)

Leaning Forward & Who’s There composed by Roy Wooten (Feuture Man Music/ASCAP)

All others music composed by Jeff Coffin (Otani Music/BMI) & Roy Wooten (Feuture Man Music/ASCAP)

PERSONNEL:

Jeff Coffin – soprano, alto & tenor sax, flute, bass flute, piano, whistle

Roy ‘Futureman’ Wooten – drums, log drum

RECORDING INFO:

Produced by Jeff Coffin & Roy Wooten

Recorded October 8, 2018 @ ITA Studios, Nashville, TN

Engineered, Edited, & Mixed by Jeff Coffin

Mastered by Mike Haynes @ ENSŌ Mastering 

Piano recorded by Brook Sutton @ The Studio Nashville, Nashville, TN

Thanks to Yamaha, D’Addario, Sabian Cymbals, Regal Tip drumsticks, Evans Drumheads, and the tree that gave us the log drum.

ALBUM NOTES:



01) Without A (Or)Net [alto sax, drums] 7:52

This was the first tune we recorded and the title is a play on Ornette Coleman’s name. It’s a small tribute to his beautiful spirit. Futureman and I had an amazing 6 hour hang/playing experience with Ornette a few years ago and his incredible music and deep humanity continues to inspire us both. The title also has a side reference to another favorite musician of ours, Wayne Shorter, who has a very cool recording called Without A Net. This is pretty free wheeling and was the start of our musical conversation when we recorded. (JC)

02) Chez Bechet [soprano sax, drums] 3:05

Roy said something while we were listening back to this track about Duke Ellington, which made me think about Sidney Bechet and his sound and amazingness on soprano sax. I like the idea of Chez Bechet (The House of Bechet), where everyone has a room to play music and create and express themselves without judgement. (JC)

03) A Little Jungle Fever [bass flute, drums, log drum] 2:24

With the whistles/bird calls at the beginning of this tune, the vibe reminded me of the Amazon or any jungle where you might get a hallucinatory fever. I was thinking this might be the music you would hear in that altered state…Roy added the log drum after the fact and was one of the very few overdubs we did. The bass flute I play belonged to the late, great woodwinds master, Yusef Lateef. I always tell people it’s still his even though I am in possession of it. I love the sound of this instrument! (JC)

04) Homecoming [tenor sax, piano, drums] 2:27

This is a piece I wrote post Dave Matthews Band summer tour and after my wife and I watched a Charles Lloyd documentary called, Arrows Into Infinity. Charles has long been an inspiration to me and I love that his wife, Dorothy Darr, has made some incredible films of Charles and his cohorts. This piece kind of fell out of the quiet after we watched the documentary and was written on the very vibey piano in our living room. I ended up overdubbing the piano at a studio down the street because I don’t have an acoustic piano in my studio. On literally 10 minutes notice! (JC) 

05) Leaning Forward [drums] 0:59

With this little solo I was thinking about the energy of Tony Williams and the way he was always leaning forward into the drums with so much spirit and commitment…I am inspired by Tony’s creative solo recordings and the way he would push Miles Davis and the Miles Davis quintet tempos faster and faster, with great emotion, power and clean technical precision…To go forward we are all indebted to the achievements of the past. “Leaning Forward” is dedicated to the creativity and enthusiasm of Tony Williams, along with all of the drummers that he built upon and all of those that he inspired…(RW)

06) Here Comes The Man [tenor sax, drums] 5:03

We did an interesting thing with the mix on this tune…we muted all of Roy’s tracks until a certain point in the tune and then faded him in over a long period of time. But, since we were in the same room, you can hear the ‘bleed’ of the drums in my mic but it’s really subtle. After drums fade in they are full on until the end of the tune. Here Comes The Man actually refers to Futureman and the fade in of the drums. The ‘slap tonguing’ at the beginning of this is a cool, tonal, percussive sound on the sax and sets up a nice vibe for the tune. (JC)

07) Smells Like Trouble Ahead [tenor sax, drums] 6:09

This is a tune I originally wrote for some of my students at Vanderbilt University in early 2018 for their improvisation group. I decided to bring it in to play and it really turned out great. The melody is very free and vocal-like and the improvisation is based around the melody with our musical dialogue surrounding it. And, I like the idea of being able to ‘smell’ trouble ahead! (JC)

08) A Knock At Midnight [alto sax, drums, log drum] 5:12

This solo is channeling a short story idea about a pivotal knock at the door. One of my favorite speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. is called “A Knock At Midnight”  My main drum theme has a repetitive knocking on the door feeling which also makes me think of Beethoven’s repetitive use of a door knocking theme.  Beethoven referred to the pivotal knocking figure of his 5th Symphony as “Thus fate knocks at the door”, which was then called the “Destiny Symphony.”  So…What if Fate came?,… perhaps at midnight?,… knocking at your door?, … to shed light on your destiny?,…..Would you answer the call?, …  Knock Knock? (Roy)

09) Waxing Brasilian [flute, drums] 3:29

Futureman laid down a seriously cool groove on this tune and what came out loosely reminded me of some of the Brazilian music I’ve heard over the years from Carlos Malta, Hamilton de Holanda, Hermeto Pascoal, and others. The music is all about the dance in Brasil there no matter how complex or simple and I seriously hope that idea spreads around the world…(JC)

10) Who’s There [drums] 1:57

This solo presents a response to the unknown knock at the door which started the earlier “A Knock at Midnight” drum solo. The great Mythologist Joseph Campbell wrote that our lives travel a familiar pathway  known as “the hero’s  journey”.  This Journey approaches each one of us as a “hero” with some kind of “calling”,  “challenge” and/ or “knocking” at the door of our destiny, where we can either begin to answer or begin to refuse the call. This drum solo represents an enigmatic dialogue that begins with “Who’s there?” (Roy)

11) Velvet Like Elvis [bass flute, drums] 1:26

The sound of the bass flute to me is very dark and very woody and has a smoothness to it that for whatever reason made my brain compare that sound to a velvet Elvis! The bass flute is tactile and I get a particular vibration in my fingertips when I play it that feels like I’m touching velvet. I like to think that Elvis might have dug this tune while sitting back on the couch just listening. (JC)

12) Scrambling Eggs [tenor sax, drums/cymbal] 5:20

This was the last tune we recorded and Futureman came up with an incredible sound with a Sabian Ozone cymbal off of a floor tom and it became a focal piece of the tune. I think he surprised himself a little with the way it sounded. I tried to play around what he was doing and take more of an accompanying part to his playing in places. Roy & I remember hearing Wayne Shorter talk about someone describing an improvisation as someone ‘scrambling eggs’ and we both the analogy, hence the name. Thanks Wayne! (JC)