Goes Without Saying

'Goes Without Saying' presents two very different, yet complimentary sides of my creative musical work as a jazz composer and improvising keyboardist. The first six tracks are progressive jazz compositions, carefully produced in a recording studio, showcasing notated melodies, funk and rock-based grooves, modal harmonies, complex time signatures, and improvised solos. My love of the jazz fusion and progressive rock super groups of the 1970's comes unabashedly to the fore in these pieces. In the last three tracks, the MPS trio opens up with two freely improvised pieces, and closes the album with my arrangement of Steve Swallow's beautiful standard, 'Falling Grace'. These tracks were recorded with a single stereo microphone, with no edits or overdubs. In these pure improvisations, I lead the trio into more adventurous territory, finding ourselves in strange, uncharted waters, but returning frequently to the solid ground of pulsating grooves that keep the music alive and rooted. Fans of Keith Jarrett will undoubtedly hear his free-flowing influence here, as well as a bit of inspiration from Ethan Iverson (of The Bad Plus) and John Medeski. It is my humble hope that standing on the shoulders of such giants, I've managed to bring my personal voice and spirit to the music as well. The sounds and ideas in 'Goes Without Saying' have been simmering since my earliest days of making music, and reflect the furthest reach of what I have been able to achieve within the jazz trio format. In these days of political anxiety about the future, this project of bringing new music into the weary world has been such a joy and privilege. Thanks for listening.? With humble gratitude, Michael.