Soon after the release of Rain Poems in the Fall of 2024, I started working on the album Bamboo. I contemplated the qualities of bamboo and began collecting sounds and rhythmic ideas. As I wrote in the liner notes for the Bamboo booklet, Oak composes but Bamboo improvises.
So that’s what I did. Rather than crafting melodies, I let myself be swayed by the arpeggios and harmonies and improvised melodies on the spot. Later, Jon anchored the music with his basses and Robby played djembe, the drum that, for me, always adds a very earthy element to music. The fourth element was Mark Clark, heard on various albums since The Hours between Night + Day, who played percussion “colors”. Mark is the open window in the studio, the sounds that float into the house and enfold what is happening.
Now Bamboo is complete and available on Bandcamp. CD and vinyl editions will follow.
