Jazz pianist/composer Matthew Fries’s new album was released September 23 on streaming platforms and vinyl (available through his website). In a conversation with Cara Lieurance, he talks about some of the stories and styles behind the music and how his musical partners Keith Hall, John Hébert, and Andrew Rathbun contributed to the project. They listen to “Lost Time,” “The Fog,” “Insomnia” and “Quarantine.”
The title track "Lost Time" is, in part, a response to loss of his mother, who had dementia. But Fries thinks it also applies to many of us whose lives were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, either by restrictions that kept people from being together, or by the deaths of loved ones.
The album was recorded in one session at Transient Sound in Chicago, and most of the tracks are first takes. Andrew Rathbun served as producer and was an invaluable set of ears, says Fries.
A release concert featuring Fries, with Keith Hall on drums and Carlo de Rossa on bass, will be held at 7:30 pm on Thursday, Oct 13 at the Crawlspace Theatre in the KNAC Center in downtown Kalamazoo. For details, click here.