Nexus Music, Vol. 1
(Orenda Records 064)
1. Reveille (feat. Dan Kaneyuki, Jake Reed, and Brady Cohan)
2. Refugio (feat. Hitomi Oba)
3. Asceria (feat. Christian Tamburr and Nick DePinna)
PERSONNEL
Saxophones - Dan Kaneyuki, Hitomi Oba, Tim McKay
Trumpets - James Blackwell, Tom Terrell, Noah Meites
Trombone - Nick DePinna
Vibraphone - Christian Tamburr (3)
Guitar - Brady Cohan (1), Brandon Bae (2,3)
Piano and Keyboards - Ross Garren
Bass - Tim Lefebvre (1), Noah Garabedian (2,3)
Drums - Jake Reed (1,3), Michael Lindsay (2)
Percussion - Roland Gajate-Garcia (1)
Produced by Ross Garren and Nick DePinna
Mixed by Ben Burget at 206 Studios
Mastered by Dave Donnelly at DNA Mastering
Album Artwork and Design by Eron Rauch
DePinna composed the opening piece, “Reveille” while in residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute with his new-music collective L.A. Signal Lab: “’Reveille’ was the result of some very meditative composing early in the morning in front of windows looking out on a tranquil green pasture in New Hampshire. Something about the stillness of the trees and grass inspired intricate and intense melodic lines that eventually transformed into a wild bugle call.”
Inspired by the California Central Coast beach that fell victim to an ecologically devastating oil spill in 2015, “Refugio” was commissioned by the culinary concert series Sensus for Taráxim, a tasting menu/concert celebrating the cultural and geographic diversity of Southern California. The recording features Sensus creator Tom Terrell on trumpet and flugelhorn, and DePinna’s long-time collaborator, saxophonist/composer Hitomi Oba.
The final piece of the EP, “Asceria” has the oldest roots of the set, with origins dating back to DePinna’s time in the graduate composition program at UCLA. “’Asceria’ is about two elements with a desire to understand each other. I’ve rewritten the latter two-thirds of this piece at least four times. In past versions, these elements either came into complete agreement or utterly obliterated each other -- narratives that I was never quite happy with. This final version recognizes that in real life, things are rarely this simple.”
All compositions by Nick DePinna (BMI)
Special thanks to Ross Garren, Hitomi Oba, Ben Burget, Tom Terrell, James and Jo Ann Newton, David Lefkowitz, Bill Booth, David Norland, Kathryn Bostic, Kenny Burrell, Gail DePinna, Masanori and Hisako Oba, members of the 2008-2009 UCLA Contemporary Jazz Large Ensemble, Robbie Hioki, LA Signal Lab, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Jimmy Hua and AEA microphones, Daniel Rosenboom, and all of the incredible musicians involved in this project.
“Refugio” commissioned by Sensus
www.experiencesensus.com
©(P) Nick DePinna 2019
www.nickdepinna.com
ORENDA RECORDS 0064
www.orendarecords.com