Album Notes

Trio Encompas third album came out of a live show as part of the Avant Coast creative improvised music series. The shows took place in a dance studio located in a redeveloped mill in Rollinsford, NH. On this night, the young power trio Cantonese Traffic (www.cantonesetraffic.com) was the opening band, and can be heard on the final album track. There was a good-sized crowd, and a very positive energy. Two days before the show, Trio Encompas members Jonathan Blakeslee, Thom Keith, and Mike Walsh got together for a rehearsal, their first meeting in nearly a year. The location was the office of White Heron Tea (www.whiteherontea.com) and the energy was very positive. Some nice iced chai set the mood and Jonathan began sharing a number of vamps he'd discovered through practice. Some structures were built and a sketch of the music that was to be played at Friday's show unfolded. Come Friday, no one could remember anything that had been discussed two days earlier, so the band decided to just let it happen. The result is Live from the Moon, a continuous suite of improvised music. Often those words can scare off a listener, but it is important to remember that improvised music can be melodic, and can swing as much as anything written if the musicians are in tune to one another. No earth-shattering ground was broken during this set, but there was contact with the moon and a very enjoyable set of music resulted.