"We Are a Body of Water"

(Commissioned by Bates College - April, 2024)

I first heard a gamelan in Boston, Massachusetts, while studying at the New England Conservatory. As I closed my eyes, the shimmering tones of the metallophones transported me to a world of water. The complex interlocking rhythms and long, cyclical forms of the performance left a lasting impression on me as both a percussionist and a composer.

Fast forward about twenty years, Bates College commissioned me to compose a work for their gamelan ensemble. I knew immediately that the piece would be inspired by water, but the exact form remained elusive.

Around this time, I visited one of the world's largest waterfalls, a breathtaking confluence of rivers bordering multiple countries. The sheer scale, force, and flooding of the falls overwhelmed my senses, and water became the sole focus of my thoughts. As I stood at the precipice, viewing the falls from the perspective of three different nations, a profound realization dawned upon me: rivers, countries, and people are interconnected, bound by the universal element of water. In that moment, I found the inspiration for my piece, which I titled "We Are a Body of Water."

The compositional process began with a series of discussions with Professor Gina Fatone, director of the Bates College gamelan. I then immersed myself in the study of Javanese gamelan music, listening to hundreds of recordings. I brought recording equipment to Bates College and meticulously recorded the fundamental tone of each bar, gong, and drum in the gamelan set (51 instruments in total), experimenting with various sound production techniques. Intrigued by the sonic possibilities, I incorporated instruments from other cultures, such as the tabla and cello, and juxtaposed their scales and pitches against the gamelan's fixed pentatonic scales. Rather than relegating the gamelan to a supporting role, I aimed to give each instrument an equal voice in creating a larger melodic statement. Inspired by the vastness of the falls, I developed eight distinct movements, spanning more than 15 minutes of music.

As the composition progressed, global events of the time imbued the theme of water with a deeper, more complex meaning. The confluence of existential threats—climate change, border wars, racism, income inequality, and more—mirrored the interconnectedness of water, becoming intertwined in the piece's symbolism and structure.

Ultimately, "We Are a Body of Water" serves as an eight-part call to action, urging us to shift our paradigm, unite, and break free from destructive patterns. Despite its weighty themes, the piece emerges from a profound sense of hope, suggesting that unimaginable possibilities may arise if we act together, rather than separately.

On The Record: Os Mutantes. Mutantes. 1969

(Published by "On the Record" - July, 2022)

Maybe it’s the sunny, warm weather or the relentless chaos of the world, but recently in my car (often occupied by myself, my wife and our 5 year old son), the most requested music has been Os Mutantes’ sophomore album, Mutantes. We love it because it is catchy, hilariously-absurd and packed with fascinating twists and turns.

It was released in 1969, the same year as Abbey Road, Brazilian Octopus, In A Silent Way, The Age of Aquarius, Space Oddity, Tommy, Liberation Music Orchestra, Hot Rats and more, and there are countless connections that weave through the pieces like cosmic threads of DNA. Was it the zeitgeist of the moment, LSD experimentation, chance, or were the Mutantes at a dinner party with Lennon, Hermeto, Zappa and the others, feasting on the totality of each other’s work? The latter would certainly be in line with the Anthropophagic Manifesto, a major influence of the Tropicália movement of the 1960’s, in Brazil to which Os Mutantes were a part of.

The record opens with “Don Quixote,” a fanfare of horns and drums, as though it were a prelude to Monty Python’s “Flying Circus” (which also debuted in 1969). Before quoting Ringo in dozens of fills, drummer Dinho Leme’s (credited as Sir Ronaldo) tom groove hints at a surdo pattern that one might hear during carnival, however it sounds nothing like a street samba. To my ear, the part also forecasts Tullio De Piscopo’s drum groove on Astor Piazzolla’s “Adiós Nonino,” which would be recorded a few years later in Argentina.

It’s about a minute into the piece, when the slightly out of tune flute, triangle and sultry voices of Rita Lee, Arnaldo Baptista and Sérgio Dias enter, that we get a glimpse of the journey we will be traveling through over the remainder of this record. Abrupt, angular transitions and tempo changes drop us into luscious worlds of where laughter, held breaths and audience cheers are spliced, against squeaky toys, theremin, autoharp, and overlapping falsetto voices, with brief fiddle afterthoughts.

As the second song, “Não Vá Se Perder por Aí” begins, I wonder “is that a goat?” and “why the false start?” This is the #1 hit on the album. The entrance of the voice sounds like a jews harp mixed with a berimbau. When the chorus comes around, I am transported to my basement practice space where my seventeen year old self would explore shuffles, afro-latin grooves (and probably other things) among friends in the shadows of a tinted green lava light. The short solos, upbeat tempo and oddly timed guitar breaks keep things moving in unexpected ways and again I am left wondering, why is the fiddle solo again so short?

With heavy hand of a doppler or phaser effects, The third song, “Dia 36” takes us partially underwater to experience a melancholic ballad with arco bass parts that could call various species of blue whales.

Without giving too much away, the rest of the album is packed with psychedelic tropical hits juxtaposed against driving rockers with a hefty dose of musique concrète that will tickle the inner ear like ASMR on steroids. Rogério Duprat’s experimental orchestrations push the line of innovation forward from where Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band left off, taking us from ribbon synth surf blues, to avant bossa, pre-punk and post-genre scenarios.

Give it a listen on your next drive to the beach and whoever is in your car will surely say (just like my wife and son do), “play that one again, daddy!”

Creative Aging + A World of Percussion

(Published by Lifetime Arts and PMAC - July, 2021)

In 2021, I partnered with the National Guild of Community Arts Education and PMAC to adapt "A World of Percussion" for a creative aging pilot program in New Hampshire's Seacoast region.

“A World of Percussion” connects language, mathematics, geography, history, culture and environment through an interactive rhythmic study of musical concepts from around the globe. Participants embark on a metaphorical journey around the world, delving into diverse rhythmic perspectives.

Participants entered the space with a wide range of expectations. Some were seasoned drummers, while others were complete beginners. A few were eager to experiment with new rhythms, while others were hesitant to socialize after a year of isolation.

We started by breaking the ice, sharing our backgrounds and musical hopes. Then, we dove into the rhythm, experimenting with a variety of drums, shakers, and other percussion instruments. We began by coordinating a simple "BOOM" sound, gradually building towards a more consistent pulse. We also explored basic techniques and simple rhythmic patterns.

Each day, we delved into a specific rhythm or musical concept from a particular country or region. This included everyday rhythms of Ghana, drones and heterophony of Indonesian Gamelan, celebratory harvest rhythms of Guinea, vocal and body percussion of India, and polyrhythmic clave-based music of Cuba. To cultivate a shared musical language, strengthen group bonds, and encourage individual expression, we also engaged in improvisational games and collaboratively created short musical pieces inspired by the week's theme.

The participants were eager to explore new musical ideas and brought a wealth of creativity to the program. For instance, when we were working on a complex Indian rhythmic phrase, one participant suggested learning it backward. This creative approach proved to be incredibly effective and musically rewarding.

Throughout the week, participants shared their newfound awareness of rhythm in everyday life. One discovered a mesmerizing groove in the simple act of chopping carrots, while another found rhythmic inspiration in an art exhibition. As the program progressed, many participants noted a heightened awareness of sound and rhythm in their daily lives.

In our final class, we turned our attention to American music, specifically the rich traditions of New Orleans. We combined poetry and music to create a unique "beat poetry slam," where participants recited their chosen poems over a deconstructed jazz rhythm. The piece transformed into a melting pot of language and rhythm, culminating our journey and bringing us full circle.

The program culminated in a heartwarming gathering where participants shared their experiences and performed the music they had created together.

Here are some of the participant's reflections:

• "I'm a very reserved (shy) person, and this has been a great experience for me. I gained so much in all areas of my life." ~ Dennie
• "A World of Percussion was such a wonderful program. There wasn't anything suggested that we didn't try." ~ Mo
• "It was a beautiful experience to share 'A World of Percussion' with these participants. I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to continue building from where we left off." ~ Anonymous

A Visit with the Professor

(Featured on WMPG's Milford Graves memorial - February, 2021)

The first piece that I heard by Milford Graves was “Territorial Moods” from Stories (Tzadik, 2000) and soon after, the self titled track from Grand Unification (Tzadik, 1998). Multidimensional, untethered and charged, they represented the most beautiful solo percussion playing that I had ever heard and spoke directly to my core.

I began listening to more of Grave's works and reading about his studies with the healing arts: the heart, acupuncture, herbs, and martial arts. I heard he was attaching probes around people's bodies, recording their inner rhythms and creating new works out of these recordings- encouraging students play along with the recordings, rather than a metronome.

A fellow percussionist gave me his phone number and gave me a warning: “make sure you call him ‘Professor’” and that he had physically tossed a former student out of his window. I called the Professor and he warmly invited me to visit his home in Jamaica, Queens.

As I turned the corner onto the block, there was no doubt about which house was his. The exterior had thousands of broken mirrors and tiles positioned in abstract mosaic forms. The plants felt like they were calling out, radiating a kind of mystical energy. His wife greeted me warmly at the door and walked me down to the basement laboratory where the Professor was stationed. He looked smaller and gentler than I had imagined, nestled like a spacecraft pilot, surrounded by multiple computers, microscopes, recording devices, and ritualistic objects.

We spoke freely for several hours, topics meandering between: the honesty of playing solo drums, why one chooses to play specific instruments and sounds, music as identity, connections to afro-cuban music, love of family, stem cell research, building immunity, strength, how to “live” the music, his current interests (which he claimed at the time were money and happiness), and the importance of notating music in order to prove legitimacy. He shared some humorous anecdotes about Sunny Murray having the jitters and Cecil Taylor hiring people purely for the hang. Also, on the music of Charles Gayle, Kidd Jordan, Jiunie Booth, Kojo Roney and Ahmed Abdul Malik.

Much to my surprise we didn’t touch the drums. In fact, I don't recall seeing many drums in his lab. He did play me some electronic music that he was working on, which included samples of William Parker’s heartbeats. He also showed me some coolers filled with animal cadavers.

At the end of our meeting, he had a big smile on his face and said, "I know your energy, man."

I dedicated this piece to the Professor:

Brian Shankar Adler: Pulses in Fourth Dimension. Chant Records, 2019.

Milford Graves left his physical body on February 12, 2021. RIP Professor.

Future Rhythms

(Written for a panel discussion at Vermont College of Fine Arts - January, 2021)

In response to the challenges of remote music creation during the age of Covid-19 and the current hindrance of sonic latency, I predict that future rhythms (in popular, concert and experimental music forms) will become: slower, less metronomic, less quantized, more independent, more conversational and more extreme than ever before as they embrace the following:

1. Pads, Fermatas and Grand Pauses where a musical event’s duration is not related to a pulse or a number of beats, but rather very slow moving, organic gestures of long tones contrasted with thick silence.

2. Big, Fat, Sloppy Down Beats where sections change or hits happen not following a precise, sharp moment in time (like the initial attack of a metronome’s click), but rather following a wider beat or macro time (like feathers falling into one’s hand).

3. Independent Orbits where loops of varying length occur simultaneously, yet independent of each other, each other's specific pulse rate and subdivisions.

4. Conversational Etiquette where performers alternate in uninterrupted musical statements relating to a given theme(s).

Though (in many ways) these concepts accept the natural rhythmic disconnect inherent in remote music making, thereby moving against the idea of rhythmic togetherness, it is my strong recommendation that to compensate, every note and sound be performed with the utmost intention, conviction, patience and attention to dynamics, articulation and stylization.

Questions on Time?

(Written for a presentation at Vermont Jazz Center - October, 2015)

Who is time?

"Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river;

it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger;

it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire.”

~Jorge Luis Borges

What is time?

“Time is the measurement of change.”

~Aristotle

“Time is of your own making...”

~Angelus Silesius

Where is time?

“Everywhere where there is interaction between a place, a time and an expenditure of energy there is rhythm. This includes:

A) Repetition

B) Interferences of linear processes and cyclical processes

C) birth, growth, peak, decline and end.”

~Henri Lefebvre

When is time?

"Time is, time was, but time shall be no more."

~James Joyce

Why is time?

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”

~Albert Einstein

Don't have time?

"To say 'I don't have time' is to say 'I don't want to.'"

~Lao Tzu

Manifesto

(Written for a New York Foundation for the Arts grant - September, 2015)

Through rhythm, we connect:

      both inward - as a meditation

      and outward - as a language to bridge social gaps.

The rhythm is our truth. It is:

      a conversation

      a reflection on a world within and a world without

      a physical and sonic release from holding

      a rejection of rigidity

      a mapping of pathways through the creation, repetition and destruction of pattern

      a celebration, and marking of the present moment carrying all past and future

      an expression of inclusion with one's self, communities and environment

      a gift to heal

      a way to give thanks.

The instrument is a spaceship built of the vessels that surround us.

     where do we want to go?

The instrument is our voice:

      what do we want to say?

Follow the ear

Shift perspectives

Explore the perception of time

Honor chance processes - the emergence of natural forms

Find strength in the discipline of exercising extremes

Create a language to communicate in-between

Go beyond.