Some images above from the first week of my three-week residency at the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, CA. It’s been a productive time — while doing my best to soak in the glorious stillness and natural beauty of this area, I’ve finished several composition projects that will be featured at two performances in San Francisco next week.

One is a set of variations on Ornette Coleman’s “Sadness” – no doubt one of his most poignant and alluring melodies – which will be performed on August 2 at The Luggage Store Gallery with a new ensemble I’m calling Not Twice, featuring Phillip Greenlief on saxophones, myself on trumpet, and Motoko Honda, Jordan Aguirre, and Andrew Koeth on keyboards and electronics. We will be accompanying the silent 16mm film projections of Los Angeles film artist Allen D. Glass.

Another project is a long overdue tribute to my former composition teacher and mentor Leroy Jenkins, who left this world in 2007. I’ll be playing this and several other recent compositions with my new trio that includes bassist Scott Walton and drummer Donald Robinson at the SIMM Series on August 5.

More info at my events page.