Thanks very much.

I don't make jazz very often but I did here. And added some other genres, as usual.

I find it a really interesting journey.

Thanks for listening.

Hello.

Yes, I don't do so much jazz, as you know. I'd like to do more. I started out as a bass player in in my teenage years and also played for a couple of years in a jazz quartet, mostly playing walking basslines.

Playing jazz for me is all about playing along with jazz grooves. If it's a jazz groove I like, I can play some decent jazz. Otherwise, my playing is more along the lines of blues, funk, rock or metal.

This track's entire foundation was that cool intro that is just leftover recycled slide guitar playing that I turned into a bassline. It's interesting how much it plays in the track (most of it). I used to enjoy just listening to that intro over and over again. Very ambient, indeed.

It turned into a jazz track when I found some suitable jazz MIDI files in the EZ Drummer Jazz expansion pack. I, of course as always, modified them a lot to get what I wanted. Yes, like a 'jazz piano trio' 0:45 - 1:52.

I listened to your Polish (?) blues track and quite liked it. I can definitely see the connection to my playing towards the end of the track. Some pretty standard blues slide playing from me there. But, in this track, I think it's quite a cool surprise.

9:41 I could have turned the ending here into a new track as I love this end section. Or made it much longer. Lots of beauty and cool grooves. There are even two basslines, starting at 10:15.

There's jazzy keys and piano quite a lot in this track but usually quite subtle. 5:04 I really like. 4:55 check that heavily delayed keyboard part.

6:41 is my favourite piano part. You can dance to that. Makes me think of old Cab Calloway sort of jazz.

6:19 guitar I also like. Took lots of editing to get that right. Very tight, controlled stuff. That was important to make it funky. And I also had to not interfere with the groove and the piano behind it.

"it's quite different from your other songs"

Yes but I think there are lots of typical elements from my style to recognise. All the jazz playing makes it different for me. Other tracks have shorter jazz moments and much more blues, electronica, funk, metal etc.

Glad you liked it. I was sure you would.

I had a listen to that Steve Mazzaro piece. Never heard of him or the Stallone film though I'm extremely familiar with Rage Against The Machine's stunning Bullet In The Head song.

The Mazzaro track is a good heavy blues track and also has other cinematic elements, as is to be expected from soundtrack music.

Perhaps the closest thing I've done to that is this unconventional blues epic. Not very close but maybe it's something along the lines of what you were thinking I might be able to do. I don't know. It gets much rockier in the second half though I have much heavier rocking in other tracks.

Thousand Ball Blues

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/148075

Hi. I don't really do a lot of guitar strumming as I'm much more into riffs and textures and stuff.

I'm not entirely sure where the strumming is in this track, especially as you didn't say which bit you meant. Maybe it's in the rockier chorus sections eg at 2:14 or in the strange blues end starting at 8:45.

Word up, dutiful little link follower. Regarding Maffin's review: told you so!

" I'm actually a lot better at slagging things off "

I think what you need is the hip hop battle jam version of Looperman, where eveyone tries to slag off other people's tracks in the most imaginative ways. Maybe with collaborations, you try to fuck up other people's beats or do death metal growls over their pretty little ballroom waltz string chamber quartet tracks. Sounds like a place for nihilists. Maybe it could be called Haterman.com.

Hey, you do a decent job providing positive comments and you're one of few people here who regularly amuse me and show honesty and character and appear to speak their mind. The world is full of dull, uninteresting people with very little to say for themselves but I doubt you're one of them.

Yeah, the socially enforced niceness of the site does annoy me a little, as does the individual I told you about on that forum thread who will not accept any criticism of his tracks (including constructive stuff, which is what I always give). So, I won't comment any more on his unimpeachable tracks that sound just as he wants them to, which is pretty much what he's said to me. If I ever try to suggest that what I make is beyond criticism, punch me square in the face as that is ridiculously arrogant and absurd. Why even post tracks here with comments enabled if you won't stand for any criticism?

Anyway, I had fun doing this track and would like to make more jazz, not that this is at all a conventional jazz track. More jazzy things I guess is what I want to make.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts and screw you for leaving that review.

"I appreciate a good review and it's refreshing to see someone contribute like that..for me it's not a competition"

Sorry if I made it seem like a competitive thiang. Not my intention. Once you hit that 'post reply' button, it's gone! I was trying to say that Maffin's words kind of set a new standard in commenting, though you've done loads of good ones too, no doubt.

"I can think of no one who sounds like you in the states."

I agree and probably it's because of all the additional instrumentation aside from guitar. Not many people into delta blues seem to like combining it with psychedelic, electronic stuff. Most people into it seem quite traditional and conservative.

I'm not sure my actual blues guitar playing is unlike anyone else (in the US or elsewhere). That seems unlikely as I'm just not that good and don't play very often. I do play live solo delta blues stuff at open mic type events (but it bores me so don't really do it anymore) but all my recorded tracks add so much more as I love all the electro stuff too.

My resonator guitar is not a good enough quality one to present in a track naked and uneffected. And I think solo delta blues stuff is pretty boring unless you're a real virtuoso. Or have vocals. I'll do some sparser delta blues one day.

The most interesting delta blues guy I know of is Harry Manx, who inspired me to play banjo. Stunning slide player who is unique because he also plays a mohan veena, a rare instrument that is a cross between guitar and sitar, all played with a bar (slide). I want one but you can't buy them in the UK.

Stunning singer too and I'm going to see him live in a few weeks in London.

Wax Audio kick arse/ass. He loves Judas Priest (the Gaga one is good) and Iron Maiden though I'm not into either of them.

Blue Jump is one of my favourites of his. I'm a big Tears For Fears fan. Shout is one of the greatest pop songs ever!

Take care, Non-Bald Faux G.

Yo. I was actually going to send you a PM drawing your attention to Maffin's wonderful review. Not good because he likes the track but because of how he expresses it and the empathy with issues I struggle with when making it and others.

And he even asked for it to be longer - first time anyone's done that.

You now have to think when commenting on my stuff "Is that review as good as Maffin's Low Key Love review?" If not, you need to make it better, which doesn't necessarily mean adding more Latin!

Anyway, the track:

6:07 bass sounds a little different cos of the cool, tom-driven jazz drum groove I drop into. That inspired the swinging guitar there.

And then that high, tinkly piano, which is one of my very favourite things in this.

Yes, bit like an upright and with some playing that makes me think of old, cool, winging jazz like Cab Calloway or someone. I don't actually listen to any of that but was reminded of it the other day when re-watching The Mask feat. Jim Carrey.

There are two pianos in this, with the second coming on 7:04.

This title is, unintentionally, a triple entendre. There's meaning 1, about my more subtle, less ostentatious love for someone, number 2 could be about Norse God Loki and 3 suits the track really well - love for a low musical key (low D). Coincidence that the track is all based around a low key bass part. So, it's a perfect title, though my only intended meaning was number 1.

I'm not sure what the British blend is that I bring to Americana Appalachian blues. Don't know if any of my music sound 'British' (maybe you only say it cos you know I'm English).

I try not to sound like anyone else and not to think too much about other music I like when making my own. I think only about the sounds and where I can take them to make something I've never heard and which I haven't yet heard as I'm always inventing genres in my head.

I can't do all of the stuff I make up as I don't play enough of the instruments and probably don't have the ability. So, I just do what I can, which is still quite a lot.

So much blues bores me but I'm so influenced by the sound of the slide and genuinely think I put it into musical contexts that other people haven't before eg in this track. There's not much slide bass at all, apart from Mark Sandman though his band Morphine didn't actually play jazz. And they had no piano and didn't kick into psychedelic slide rock.

I'm also trying to make some of the music I wish other people had.

I bet you like a good mashup as that's a glimpse at what two or more good artists could have made if they had got together.

Wax Audio is my fave mashup guy. He has 3 great free albums, containing wittily-titled gems such as this:

Golden Teardrops

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GtzaV3Tkk0

Interview with the guy

http://jesterjaymusic.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/interview-with-tom-campagnoni-wax-audio.html

Hello. I was going to take this off featured tracks last night but kept it for another day so got two more interesting reviews, from yourself and Maffin.

I appreciate all sorts of comments. Don't have to be technical - can be more philosophical, more about the moods and emotions conjured up. Just as long as it's more than "Sweet track, bro" or similar.

Fans can be critics too (thanks again for being my fan) and, even when a piece of music is really well made, it can be fascinating to hear how other people feel about it. That's separate to "please tell me how I can improve this track". I made it so how I feel about is a bit biased. And its hard to separate what I know about how it was made from how it now sounds.

You know I like to give lots of detail in reviews but I feel it's what the site should be about. Helping each other in different ways. If I like something, I usually have lots to say about it.

Maybe I don't need your help as such, but your feelings on my stuff (even if you don't like it, that's fine) is always worth considering and making sense of. You may well have encouraged me to go check out more Robin Trower.

Yes, good point about the intro bass - it's loose and out of time at certain points. That's why I had to chop it up and lose the out of time bits in order to use it as the bassline during a lot of the track. It does sound a bit like a laid back warm up. You'll hear it's even playing at the start of the end rock out section though it then gets replaced by a couple of other basslines.

The blues rock here is hopefully a bit of a surprise and an unusual change from the jazz. I don't know much about Trower though did watch him plus band doing a song back in the day quite recently so bit of a coincidence there.

Yeah, his tone was cool though his playing was a bit samey and boring. I'm sure he's got better stuff.

The two blues rock sections that you get before the end rockout sound like they might be the chorus if this were an actual song with vocals. And then it's fun to drop back down into the swing jazz and that essential bassline.

All the best and see you around on some other tracks (mine and yours).

Such a great review that's a real challenge to answer! You display such empathy and really hear it as I hear it and understand some of the issues I struggle with (how long it should be, are there enough lead parts etc).

It does feel like no computer was used though there certainly was and it's as much cut-up sample stuff as any hip hop track.

Main bassline is allowed to play as it was recorded for the first 45 seconds, then it's chopped in all sorts of ways to make new riffs. Lots of work doing the crossfades between each cutup part.

Piano doesn't stand out to me but you and Crucethus have both remarked on it. That's why detailed feedback is great as people notice things I take for granted or wouldn't choose as highlights.

Drums: not sure which ones you're talking about.

3:45 we get hip hop drums. They're not quantised.

All other acoustic drums have no quantise. I have many EZ Drummer expansion packs so take advantage of the performances. I mostly used MIDI files from Jazz pack (though not for rock breaks and end section). Lots of parts copied to timeline, layered and blendedplus bits that interfere with groove removed.

Don't know Logic 16C quantise. Think I've kept the original drum timing.

"Let the tempo and pattern drift"

Nearly all my tracks are fixed sequencer tempo though no1 seems to notice or complain. I'd like to change this but may need Ableton to get job done.

Yes, instrument playing is loose and lazy (but tightened up through editing - not quantise just the take I use). But loose and lazy can be cool and provide some real humanity.

"a living liquid bed" = awesome phrase. I did wonder about not having enough cool leads but maybe there are enough and this is as much about enjoying groove+atmosphere as hearing tunes and melodies. I think that main bassline provides groove, melody and bass.

"you open so many routes through the forest".

Another killer phrase. It's hard to "pay off" all my routes and one reason I take so long on tracks is scratching my head trying to work out how much longer I should go on for, how many different forms a riff should appear in etc.

You seem to want the track to be longer! The last minute section is too short and should probably be extended by a minute.

I don't do 30 min tracks cos I suspect no one would want to listen to all of each one.

It might be annoying if you were thinking of some killer riffs on 25 mins but then had to sit through so much other stuff just to hear them!

"'more' is definitely more with you!"

Yes, stuff is changing all the time. There are no sections that are a simple repeat of a previous one. Stuff is only returned to to do more: pack more riffs in, vary the groove, apply new effects etc.

I also want to keep going but have to end some time!

This track was part of another featuring actual sax. You'll hear some shared instruments, hip hop drums etc. It's much shorter than this and has even got banj-metal in it!

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/145971

Hi. I'm not sure what you were sceptical about - you didn't say.

Was it maybe what I wrote in the track description?

A few people have doubted my track descriptions before but then listened and said that the track did contain everything I had described (it's not easy describing a long, complicated track in not very many words).

Or were you sceptical about the intro section (the bassline, which is actually detuned guitar)?

That bassline is the foundation of the whole track and plays most of the time (except for the rock sections) and I really like hearing it out on its own like that, which is why I put it at the start. The timing of it is not perfect but that gives it quite a loose feel.

Anyway, thanks for checking it out and I'm glad you got into it. I have lots of other mad, far out trips uploaded to this site.

OK. I will check the studio reels out.

Hi. I've heard some Pretty Lights music before.

But I don't remember it sounding anything like this track. Maybe there is just one section in here that reminds you of a Pretty Lights song.

Which Pretty Lights song were you thinking of?

I don't know what the 12 tone concept really is. Don't think I've even heard of it.

I do know that I like micro tones and guess I use them quite a bit through all the slide playing I do (remember the bassline in this is mostly slide and then there's slide guitar in the rocking section).

Yes, rocking section in this is fun though probably the end needs to be extended by about a minute as it's getting into a cool funk jam and then ends. I like to build things up to go heavy just to show how things can progress. But I don't do it just for the sake of it - only if it works.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Yes, I like to think of this as intelligent music - I certainly have to put a great deal of thought into making it. Most of my playing I just do in quite a loose, natural, feel-based way, rather than planning it out in any intelligent way.

So, I'm nothing like a classical composer who has to actually work out all the notes and then write them down. I just roughly know the key I'm playing in and then jam out different solos and riffs.

The real intelligence is in the editing and arranging and I have had many times when I really get stuck and cannot work out what to do next. It hurts my brain! Then I leave it for a while and try to relax about how it's going, come back with a fresh viewpoint and get what I need done. I just work on lots of other tracks until I feel like coming back to any particular one.

The smoothness is also all in the detailed editing - constantly going back and trimming and removing little parts that interfere with the groove or things that jump out as being a little bit too loud.

Yes, using jazzy loops can be great fun and various people have done this over the years - there's a whole genre of jazzy hip hop featuring artists such as Madlib. Then there's uptempo dance music based around jazzy drum loops. One good artist for that is Dzihan & Kamien, who have a couple of really good albums. Then there's the cutup sample artist Amon Tobin who uses a lot of jazz drums in his strange, more extreme stuff.

But I don't use any loops here. It's all programmed acoustic EZ Drummer drumkits (plus some single shot hits for the hip hop drums) using jazz and metal kits.

Programmed drums give you so much flexibility over the track and allow you to do all sorts of complex rolls and fills - much more musical and interesting than just manipulating loops. I still use drum loops but I'm not dependent on them and generally mix them up with acoustic programmed drums.

If you'd like to hear some of my tracks based more on drum loops, try these three very different ones: Tiny Little Pieces, Thing Big Feel Small and Restless In Peace.

Thanks again and good luck with your jazzy loops.

Double post...

Thanks for checking it out. Looks like I was wrong to think people would be put off by jazz.

Check my reply to midisparks regarding the importance of an interesting blend of instruments. I like to think I have an interesting blend in pretty much all my tracks. I see it as an area of endless creativity and quite possibly more important than just a good riff. A good guitar riff in a track that sounds like so mnay others I've heard before doesn't necessarily interest me a great deal.

"The tension and build up is nice."

I'm tempted to turn the last few minutes into a separate track. But I like how the whole things progresses and goes heavy around 8.5 mins so don't really want to lose that (as would happen if I removed those end few minutes).

Thanks. You know I've got high standards so tend not to upload things until they're in a really good, perhaps even complete state.

I really enjoyed doing the jazz drums in this. I have a particular love of jazz drumming though I guess I love all sorts of drums. Metal drummers are another level in terms of intensity. And sometimes complexity too though not necessarily subtlety! Danny Carey (from Tool) is definitely one of the very best heavy drummers.

This track actually uses the EZ Drummer kit from the drummer from heavy Swedish band Meshuggah (for the rock change sections).

I think my three favourite acoustic drum styles are jazz, funk and metal and I like to combine all of them. Rock is just what happens inbetween funk and metal. I'm also into some dub/reggae playing (see track Things That Should Always Be for that) as well country trainbeats and uptempo swinging jazz. Then there's shuffle grooves, which I've been using quite a bit recently.

Hip hop is a big influence too and I also manage to get a little of that into this one. I also love Asian percussion, particularly tablas so I guess I'm just into "good grooves" in general.

"Those 11 minutes were over ia a flash..."

Good to hear as I always worry about things dragging and being boring (as we've discussed before). But a good few people have said the same sort of thing about other tracks and them not seeming to last as long as they actually do.

Thanks for checking it out.

Hi. Leave comments as short or as long as you like. Or, as is often the case, leave no comment at all (yes, I know that's mostly from all the many users with no profile and no tracks).

I of course prefer longer commnents as it's interesting to hear the details of what people did or didn't like.When I like a track, I try to point out bits I didn't like or think can be improved. Then maybe the track will become even better.

I've got to know a few people on here in terms of their tastes and preferences so it's often fun to see which bits they choose as their track highlights.

Anyway, good to hear you found that some of these slightly disparate elements came together nicely.

All the best to you.

Hello. I said in my last reply to you that I had another jazz track you might prefer and it seems you do.

I don't think this has much less drumming than normal. There's quite a bit of jazz complexity though I kick into some simpler grooves at certain points eg during your "personal highlight" section, around 6:30.

That was fun guitar to play and it hopefully sounds a bit different from my usual range of playing.

I do a mixture of fingerstyle and pick playing (slide playing is almost always just with fingers). This was with fingers to get that close control and short, muted notes. I also really like the piano parts behind that clean playing. I had to edit the guitar parts quite closely to make sure they didn't collide with the piano. That section is a particular type of cool, swinging jazz but I don't know who it sounds like. Simple drum groove really drives it and inspired the guitar.

I thought you might be particularly interested in the bass in this one. The main bass drives the whole track and plays all the time, except for the two rock guitar/drum sections and then the end couple of minutes. That bass (detuned slide guitar) is not very bassy, which really helps allow other parts to be heard.

I don't know if you're a Mark Sandman/Morphine fan (Danke is) but I guess this slide bass playing is closest to the amazing 2-string slide bass playing he did in his band Morphine.

I see bass as a concept - not necessarily something that has to be played by bass guitar or synth bass. If you want more space in a track - go for more of a mid-range bass.

There are five different techniques for creating bass used in this one: bass guitar, guitar through octave pedal, synth bass, slide guitar detuned one octave in the computer and bass guitar chopped up, sampled and played back in from the keyboard.

Yes, this track will be on my jazz/funk album. There's always some electro in my stuff but that album will have quite an acoustic sound. I don't think this track sounds like it's very electronic. Maybe it even sounds a bit like a live band (I'm not sure). The album has some unfinished tracks you haven't heard. One track that will also be on there is An Early Monring Appointment With God.

Glad you liked the beauty in this one as jazz is not my natural playing style and I know nothing about jazz chords or theory!

"Well u have a customer here"

Well I'm not selling anything yet. I'm planning to give a bunch of albums away for free through a site such as Bandcamp once I've got mastering and artwork done. I guess I could charge for them but this is real niche music so probably not worth trying to make any money off it.

Anyway, - I like all sorts of grooves, including slow, spacious, ponderous (good word, not used very often) jazz ones.

Yes, I think my unusual choice of instruments is one of the key defining aspects of my music. There's so much uninteresting music out there and I kind of think everything's been done before in terms of notes or chords or sonic extremes. However, the way in which you combine sounds has loads and loads more possibilities.

It's not as though I have a regular band lineup so I just choose instrument combinations that I've not used before for every single track. I try to give them all their own character. I think inventive instrument combinations is the real way to create unique music. I have no idea how I could combine notes in a way that no one has done before. But with sounds there are many more possibilities.

I like to be patient with the development. You may be able to hear that most of the track is based around the main bassline. So, everything that follows is just me developing other parts to accompany that bassline. Different drum grooves and keyboard parts and also complete changes (such as the two rock drums and guitar sections) as a break before returning to that main theme.

"Very musical"
I think when you get jazz right it tends to sound very rich and musical. More so than a lot of electronic music or metal. I don't know why that is or if I'm even explaining myself properly.

Thanks for stopping by.

Yo, Shatner. Interesting ride is what I like to take myself and then anyone else listening on. I think the two sections you chose as your favourites are the ones with a little hip hop in them. No surprise there!

Obviously, it's mostly jazz, with rock breaks but I had a leftover hip hop hit kit (from another track) sitting on the timeline so used it to get really grooving around 3.5 mins behind the fluid lead guitar lines.

The bass there is pretty interesting. It's my bass guitar playing cut up as one REX file, which is then laid out across the keys. So, each key has a very short phrase of playing - like 0.2 to 1 sec. Fun to jam along with as you're not quite sure what you're going to get when you press a key. Some sort of little bass run. Which then gets edited afterwards as it's real hard to remember which key does what.

Actually, there's quite a bit of sample/cut up stuff in this track though the only person sampled is me. Most of my stuff is a big collage in which I shift about the best bits of my quite loose instrument playing.

This track also has a sister track with a whole lot more hip hop in it so think you might like it. It's much shorter but a much crazier trip through hip hop, d'n'b, jazz, funk and metal. It's got similar bass and drums in it as in your first favourite section and is called Way Beyond Wrong.

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/145971

Your second favourite section was a big funk ending that should really be at least a minute longer. I can play guitar over that sort of thing all day. It's even got two simultaneous basslines there.

Thanks for checking this out.

P.S. Oh and here's another crazy, alternative hip hop trip with a hell of a lot of guitar.

http://www.looperman.com/tracks/detail/145971

Thanks. I take great pride in all my drum programming, which is pretty much a highlight in most of my tracks these days. It's improved a lot in the last two years, since getting Superior Drummer and various EZ Drummer expansion packs. The improvement in software has helped a great deal, though I guess I put in a lot of groundwork in how to program drums over a number of years before then.

Almost all of my music is very groove-based so it's essential the drums work really, really well so I spend ages trimming little bits out that interfere with the groove, after experimenting with all sorts of fills and changes in feel and groove.

I like a lot of drum styles, from jazz to metal. If you'd like to hear some other good acoustic drumming tracks, check out Debt Black Hole and Into The Out There. For more electronic/loop-based drums, try Think Big Feel Small, Tiny Little Pieces or Evolution Of An Echo.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Yo. See my reply to MrWolf regarding bassline, which is the heartbeat of it all. The track only keeps extending cos I found other ways to work that resonator guitar bassline. Must try detuning and recycling more of my guitar playing like that.

Maybe a little like a Dixie jazz funeral though not as funereal - a bit more chilled and beautiful.

Eerie synth same as in Think Big Feel Small (last upload), Knee Deep In The Cosmic Overwhelm and others.

3:52 snare is switch to hip hop kit. That section is partly lifted from Way Beyond Wrong - possibly first track of mine you reviewed. This and that used to be the same track so share lots of instruments.

4:56 is my little dub organ. Also can be heard at 1:19.

5:15 second rock section. Had to bring that guitar playing and accented hat drum groove back as they break up the jazz nicely.

5:50 guitar starting to get jazzier and bluesier.

Yes, quite subtle piano here. Some is played, other little snippets are copied from the main synth that plays a sort of Rhodes role.

Yeah, don't think this sounds like it was made on a computer - sounds very acoustic and kind of like a live band.

7:38 though you might like the rapid dulcimer in this. Reminiscent of a particular, automatic hammering instrument (marxophone) used on a Portishead track (Orbital one too).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7gutsi1uT4

That dulcimer continues during the heavy section plus some big effects to create a strange, psychedelic bed.

Yes, 7:50 I guess it moves to major scale with the bass guitar. And we get a bit of violin to carry things over down over the drop back to that essential sitting jazz groove on 8:00.

I knew you'd pick out those short acid synth blasts. Instrument was just sitting on timeline but I like to put that sort of incongruity in a jazz track.

In the last couple of minutes it sort of is morphing into another song and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I cut the end cool jam short just so I could fit whole thing on Looperman. I should probably extend it. Am tempted to make last 3 mins their own track. But I like the build from jazz to heavyish so don't want to remove that from the jazz track

Tough call to be made there.

Thanks for the thoughts, as always. See you for the next upload...

Greetings, good sir.

My tracks are definitely valuable to me. And I try hard to make everything in the track high quality. If something is annoying me, I just have to fix it!

Yes, jazz can be a scary thing to some people. I have a real love-hate relationship with it and there's so much of it that I find boring, or weird or discordant. But, as with every genre, I'm influenced by certain aspects of jazz and take those things and put them into my music. Jazz drumming is definitely my favourite thing in jazz. I don't really care too much about brass instruments (even though I'm a huge fan of Morphine).

Ethereal guitar that you liked is a sample-based instrument that I have used in quite a few tracks. See my last track that I don't think you heard (also quite jazzy) called Thing Big Feel Small to hear more of that beautiful sound. I add lots of delay and lower the attack so that it doesn't sound much like guitar.

7.10 piano is pretty good. I'm not a big fan of piano and only use it a little bit in my music.

The heavy end here (yes, I know it's not really heavy) was fun to make. You know I like to build a track and then make it explode. I've used a mix of jazz and metal drum kits in this one, though it's definitely not a jazz-metal track.

Good to hear your thoughts, as always.

Things are OK in my lab though builders will soon be working on the house for quite a long time, which will make it harder to do music.

Well, well - it seems you managed to survive my jazz odyssey.

That main bass was just some slide resonator I had left over from some other track so I tried detuning it an octave and loved the sound. A cool not-very-bassy bass.

I have no idea why there is panning on it! I haven't applied it whilst making this track but it also wouldn't have been recorded on the original signal so I don't really understand it. But it sounds good so I've left it.

"that piano chord a 1:00 is a real tease"

That's really well put and I know what you mean. Not a big piano fan but like to use it sometimes.

The edgy/rock guitar in that first section is all about playing along to the accented hi hat drum groove. Nice, accented 4/4 change from the gentle, swinging jazz to provide variety. Fun guitar to play.

I have no idea what genre you could give to all my stuff except 'far out'. Hopefully my different albums will sort of be seen as different genres (that's for other people to say).

Yes, could have used touches of brass but my VST brass stuff isn't great and I didn't really experiment much with it in this. Maybe not having any brass here is more interesting.

7:15 bigger, more obvious piano riff. Notice how that detuned slide bass is still going underneath (and even in the rocking section later on).

8:44 short acid synth break was one of the last bits of playing I put in. Had that instrument sitting unused on the timeline. Just twiddled a few keys and it was done.

Good to hear from you again.