Reclamation
My new EP, Reclamation, is out today on all streaming services. It’s a collection of 5 minimalist, contemplative guitar pieces in the World/New Age genre. This one has a 3 cover arrangements that flowed well together; Unchained Melody, Wake Me Up When September Ends, and The Ecstasy of Gold.
The sound editing is distinctly raw — as I left in mic gain, squeaks, breathing; all pings and pops with a natural performance. This ‘light touch’ editing was popularized in the post-classical space by piano composer, Ólafur Arnalds. It gives the recording an intimate authenticity that you wouldn’t get with obsessive noise-reduction tools.
Reclamation EP on Amazon Music
1. Unchained Melody – Unchained Melody is nearly 70 years old. My favorite is the 1977 Elvis version from Ann Arbor, Michigan. The performance is so good. It’s up there with Jeff Buckley’s Hallelujah.
2. Wake Me Up When September Ends (Jonathan’s Version) – My long time guitar student, Jonathan Bahm, was a beautiful soul. An angel on earth. On April 19 2022, at the age of 23, Jonathan Bahm’s life was tragically taken from us in an act of violence. Jonathan’s parents, Amy and David, asked me to play ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’ at his funeral. It was an honor. With their blessing I’ve recorded my arrangement and released it as a everlasting testament to Jonathan.
3. Zlatan y Guillermo – “Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace” ― Milan Kundera.
This song is about the innocence of dogs, the human connection to dogs, and our inconsolable grief when they pass.
4. The Ecstasy of Gold – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is the best of Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy starring Clint Eastwood. The film is considered the definitive Spaghetti Western — with it’s use of long shots and close-up cinematography. The music is from Italian composer, Ennio Morricone. The Ecstasy of Gold is thought to be his greatest work. It stands as the most well known of Morricone’s themes — and is an iconic piece of film music history.
5. Reclamation – I’m frequently involved with (or commissioned for) short-films. Often, these filmmakers are professionals on much larger projects. ‘Short-films’ are a vehicle for their own talents, and a way to display their skill sets. ‘Reclamation’ was written for the final scene of a Mexican short film where a Sicario (hired gunman or assassin) hunts down two undocumented adolescents attempting to make it to the US border. Myself and the editor thought we knocked it out of the park — but, alas, we were kicked off the project.
I really love the piece, and it has a deeper meaning to me than the aforementioned scene. To me, Reclamation follows the ascent from despair to hope, from darkness to light.
Thank you for listening 