The Speed of Light

Sunset in southern Idaho - slowly, away.

Hello from sunny CA (Berkeley to be exact).

It is my first time in Berkeley, and I have been noticing there is something special about the light here. It has a northwest feel, but it is somehow softer and easier. It has been a beautiful summer in the Pacific Northwest, and I am enjoying soaking in a bit of NoCal light. 

I recently spent time in Idaho (my home-state) and was reminded about the looooooong sunsets (see picture) and how the light seems to slow down there. It was a nostalgic trip for  me to make, as it has been a year since my father passed away, and this trip was about marking that time in various ways (some profound, some, well, profane)... But the sunsets... 

I have been thinking about light this summer, and its relation to sound and life. I have been hard at work on my (loooooong) cycle of string quartets, which are based on the writings of Italo Calvino, a master of light and lightness. And Triptet is getting tantalizingly close to releasing our third album on Engine Records, Slowly, Away. It is a dark record, made in the brilliant sunshine of upstate New York. In October, the Tom Baker Quartet will perform a kind of reunion show at the Royal Room in Seattle, welcoming clarinetist Jesse Canterbury home for a week. The light will have shifted to that autumn slant, but this will be a really great gathering of old friends and bandmates. More details soon.

Lots more happening, more from MATRIO in October, a solo ambient show before the year ends, and some rumblings of a new opera on the horizon... hope to see/hear you all soon.

Go lightly.