New Providence is the name of my one-man band. Years ago, it was a “real†band that included people who have played with Trey Gunn, Microtones, The Action Verbs (the band that eventually became Babe the Blue Ox), and G.G. Allin. My background includes a degree in classical piano from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, jazz studies at the Eastman School of Music, some early collaborations with avant-gardist David Shea, and being a founding member of the hardcore punk band Teenage Depression.
I’ve been a huge Beatles fan for most of my life. When I was 11 or 12, I learned that Paul McCartney recorded his first solo album all by himself, playing all the instruments. “What a cool way to make music,†I thought to myself. So that’s what I've been doing for some years now.
I have also recorded with the avant-garde improvisation group Jagged Ice (see the blog above). I’ve scored films as well, and a couple of years ago I directed a short film called SOOTHSAYER which was screened at the Coney Island Film Festival and other venues.All NP CDs are available for sale at CD BABY .
"Honeysuckle 2008" is a new version of an old song. It'll be on the new CD, which hopefully will be out before the end of the year. "The Obvious," "The Passersby," and "Funeral Baked Music" above, as well as "Lightfeather" and "Remo" on the left (the music videos), are from my most recent CD, FUNERAL BAKED MUSIC .
"Agnes's Mother" is a favorite of mine. The lyrics are adapted from a beautiful sequence from Ingmar Bergman's film CRIES AND WHISPERS. This song appears on the first NP CD, NEW PROVIDENCE , which was mixed with the assistance of Kramer at Noise New Jersey.
"I had a terror" is a piece for flute and electronics, featuring my good friend Renée Oakford playing the flute. It's from a series of pieces in which the flute melodies are wordless settings of Emily Dickinson texts; a version of this piece was included in the score for THIRTY-TWO PROSPECT PARK FRAGMENTS, an experimental video by Montreal-based filmmaker Guillaume Hérisson.
You can also see my music videos as well as SOOTHSAYER at MY YOUTUBE PAGE .
