Jarvis and Friends, Volume 1 – Composers Concordance Records: COMCON0046

Art by Mark Kostabi

Liner Notes on NAXOS:
Jarvis and Friends Volume 1, is a collection of mostly improvised duo collaborations for drum set with, horn, accordion frame drums and trumpets.  Percussionist (drum set and vibraphone) Peter Jarvis has teamed up with some of the finest musicians in the world including: Glen Velez – frame drums, Franz Hackl – trumpets, William Schimmel – accordion and John Clark – horn to produce this creative volume of music. In addition to the improvisations, included are three fully composed pieces, one each, by Peter Jarvis, William Schimmel and Glen Velez.

Velez/Jarvis Duo: Glen Velez – Frame Drums, Peter Jarvis – Drum Set
1– Frame Drums and Drum Set (5:18) – Velez/Jarvis (improv.)
2- Drum Songs (4:45) – Velez/Jarvis (improv.)
3- Discussions (5:03) – Velez/Jarvis (improv.)
4- Penance Creek – Glen Velez (2016) (7:15)
5- Controlled Improvisation Number 4, Opus 48 (2016) – Peter Jarvis (4:28)

Franz Hackl – Trumpets and Flügelhorn, Peter Jarvis – Drum Set
Postal Bebop Non Priority Suite (2017) – Hackl/Jarvis (improv.)
6-  Stately Funk (My Kingdom for a Meter) (3:57)
7-  The Freedom of Dialogue (Race to Space) (3:19)
8-  Swinging Postal (Bop Revisited) (3:30)
9- Express Energy (Signature Required) (2:45)

William Schimmel – Accordion, Peter Jarvis – Drum Set & Vibraphone
Devotional Suite – Schimmel/Jarvis (2017) (improv)
10- Invocation (3:22)
11- Ritual (5:36)
12- Prayer (4:45)
New York Classical – William Schimmel (2014)
13-  Movement 1 (2:42)
14- Movement 2 (2:42)
15- Movement 3 (1:17)

John Clark – Horn, Peter Jarvis – Drum Set  
16- Grooves (3:33) – Clark/Jarvis (improv.)
17- Responses (3:02) – Clark/Jarvis (improv.)
18- The Singing Horn (2:38) – Clark/Jarvis (improv.)
19- Let Feedom Reign (0:48) – Clark/Jarvis (improv.)
20- Swing-Like (3:32) – Clark/Jarvis (improv.)
21- Begin and End (0:54) – Clark/Jarvis (improv.)

About the Music:
All of the improvisations are unrehearsed collaborations.
The following notes were written by the composers.

Penance Creek – Glen Velez (BMI)
Penance Creek was completed on July 28, 2016. Dedicated to esteemed percussionist Peter Jarvis. The piece explores the interplay between hand drumming and stick drumming, giving the freedom to the performers to reconcile the dynamic and coloristic differences. – Glen Velez

Controlled Improvisation Number 4 – Peter Jarvis (BMI)
Controlled Improvisation Number 4 was completed on June 13, 2012. It is respectfully dedicated to master performer Glen Velez. The 4^th piece in an ongoing series of 6 “controlled improvisations” it is designed to explore the delicate combination of notated and improvised music. In some cases the improvisations are free, at other times the improvisations are pitches only with notated rhythms. Sometimes one player has notated music while the other is improvising. At times both parts are fully notated and finally there are moments when both players are improvising at the same time. It is my hope that, in performance, a listener will be hard-pressed to tell which music is improvised and which is notated.

New York Classical – William Schimmel (BMI)
New York Classical is a tribute to a short lived movement in New York where composers decided to write straightforward music much in line with the New Deal and WPA. It started in the 30’s but there were a few holdouts that did this well into the 50’s and 60’s even if it was just on occasion: Otto Luening, Nicholas Flagello, Harold Shapiro, Mark Blitzstein and Victorio Giannini – to name a few.
This piece actually uses the harmonic structure of Giannini’s 3rd Symphony for band – but strips it down to bare essentials – allowing a kind of past/present counterpoint yet maintaining the “no nonsense” “get down to basics” American spirit prevalent during that time. – William Schimmel

Producer: Peter Jarvis
Engineer: David Kerzner
Mixer: David Kerzner
Mastering Engineer: David Kerzner
Recorded at William Paterson University
Art by Mark Kostabi