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Stuff I wrote but couldn't possibly have played

I was classically trained as a composer, and the recordings below are of compositions that I wrote. Unfortunately, not every piece of music I have written has been recorded (or even played), so this list is not a complete representation of my portfolio.

All of the music on this page is free to download and distribute without exception.

• Theme from a Lonely Planet (info)
  A 10-minute orchestral work, completed in the winter of 2002. This performace is by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, with Carolyn Kwan conducting. Elizabeth Mahler can be heard prominently as the Concertmaster (first chair violinist).
  • Entire Piece (entire work, .mp3, 10:02, 2.3 MB)
  • Excerpt 1 (.mp3, 1:03, 248 kb)
  • Excerpt 2 (.mp3, 1:00, 240 kb)
  • Excerpt 3 (.mp3, 0:52, 208 kb)
• Rondo for Rodent and Computer (info & pic)
  
  An actual performance of "Rondo for Rodent and Computer."

  This rondo is an etude for a Macintosh computer and a mouse (a rodent, not a computer input device). The piece has two simultaneous sound components: a through-written sound file that is invariant and played back by the computer, and an interactive sound environment for the mouse to manipulate.
  
  Through the use of MAX/MSP/Jitter, an object-oriented audio/video programming environment, I taught the Macintosh to use a digital video camera to track the motion of a white mouse. The camera was carefully placed directly above the mouse so that the data from the camera could be accurately interpreted as 2-dimensional (i.e. dynamic x/y coordinates). Those coordinates were used to manipulate several different sound environments, which were completely comprised of simple sine waves.
  
  Put simply: The computer watches the mouse. When the mouse moves, the computer makes music.
  • High quality (~ 4 MB Quicktime video)
  • Low quality (~ 1 MB Quicktime video)
• Streetscapes (for solo piano) - 2003 (info)
  A series of piano miniatures based on various North American street scenes. The musician on this recording is Chryssie Nanou.
  • excerpt from Scenic Parkway (.mp3, 0:50, 156 kb)
  • Market Square (.mp3, 1:44, 320 kb)
  • Wet Night Alley (.mp3, 1:33, 376 kb)
  • Blizzard Impasse (.mp3, 1:45, 316 kb)
  • excerpt from Interstate Still-Life (.mp3, 0:34, 104 kb)
• Pacific Dream Sequence (info)
  Pacific Dream Sequence is a three-movement work for a quintet comprised of a B-flat clarinet, violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The performers on this recording are as follows:
  
  Wendy Bickford, clarinet
  Elizabeth Mahler, violin
  Cameron Raecke, viola
  Rebecca Turner, cello
  Solomon Gulh-Miller, double-bass
  • Octopi Yourself (.mp3, 1:39, 312 kb)
  • excerpt from Impossible Paradise (.mp3, 0:56, 328 kb)
  • excerpt from Sinking Stone (.mp3, 0:34, 136 kb)

Stuff I may or may not have written but definitely played something on

As a jazz, funk, and rock musician, I have been trained "on the job." There are quite a few recordings further down the page in which I can be heard playing (usually guitar). I also wrote a few of those tunes as well, and had a collaborative hand in some others.

• Cosmic Arc (info)
  Cosmic Arc was a jazz / funk band based in New Orleans in which I was a guitar player for several years. The members were John Paul Shaffer (guitar), Jon Stonbely (bass guitar), Jason Isaac (drums), and myself (guitar).
  • Live at the Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, LA, May 2001
    1. Lemons (.mp3, 6:15, 2.5 MB)
    2. Crowbar (.mp3, 4:49, 5.5 MB)
    3. In Case of Fire (.mp3, 6:39, 4.9 MB)
    4. Restless (.mp3, 7:15, 16 MB)
    5. My Man is Gone Now (loose interp.) (.mp3, 3:38, 4.37 MB)
    6. The Sky is Crying (.mp3, 5:52, 4.4 MB)
    7. Sharleena (.mp3, 8:00, 19 MB)
  • The CAC Sessions, January, 2001 (?)
    1. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down (with Becca Fuchs, vocals - .mp3, 7:20, 10 MB)
    2. Lemons (.mp3, 5:25, 7.5 MB)
• Uphill Driver (info)
  Uphill Driver was an alt-country band that consisted of Tam Rankin, Casey Cichowicz, and myself. We recorded these tracks in the basement of a Baltimore row-house. All tracks were produced by Casey Cichowicz.
  I played lead and/or rhythm guitar, drums (except for "Untitled"), and some other stuff, like ukelele, cello, and finger cymbals. Yes, I know... finger cymbals rock.
  • On a Bend (.mp3, 2.9 MB)
  • Fall Out (.mp3, 2.5 MB)
  • Drink for a Dream (.mp3, 2.2 MB)
  • Untitled (.mp3, 2.5 MB)
  • She Told Me Too (.mp3, 1.4 MB)
  • Broken Down (.mp3, 1.2 MB)
  • The Worst Way (.mp3, 3.4 MB)