Album Notes

From the chamber of Paul Klemperer:

I have been playing music for over 35 years. My first love is jazz, but I like to stretch and cross boundaries. My saxophone style is influenced as much by the blues as jazz, having studied or worked with such artists as Ray Copeland, Frank Peterson, Archie Shepp, Max Roach, Jimmy Carl Black, Marcia Ball and Malford Milligan, to name a few. To me, music is less about genre than about tone, energy and expression.

This project came about in two ways. First, I had been looking for new ways to compose and arrange jazz-related music. The Man In Chamber Experiment (M.I.C.E.) is a musical response to certain sociological questions/predicaments. I let the issue delineate the musical arrangement. For example, on "Genetic Imperative #2" the first section is a simple chant which is made complex by the musicians competing as individuals for musical space. The second section is rigidly organized, so there is no ostensible competition, yet the structure grows in intensity and conflict as the musicians try to express themselves. Each song has a similar issue guiding the arrangement.

Second, this is a family album. The title track was inspired by my mother's experiments for the U.S. Army, developing protective clothing for troops in toxic environmental conditions (e.g., poison gas). After hearing the song "Man In Chamber" she encouraged me to do a whole album. I had wanted to work with my cousin, L.A.-based guitarist Tommy Kay, for some time, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. He hooked me up with a great rhythm section in Los Angeles, Clarence Robinson on bass, and Sinclair Lott (whose credits include Freddie Hubbard and Natalie Cole) on drums. We were joined on three songs by Jeff Babko (whose resume stretches from Julio Iglesias to musical director for the Jimmy Kimmel show) on keyboards. For each song I gave them a written description of the issue we would explore, as well as a musical chart. The players used their training in the jazz tradition to respond creatively to my arrangements.