There is a nice piece in DownBeat Magazine from an interview I did where we discussed being a DIY or Indie musician today. It was a pleasure discussing how I’ve chosen to make my way through today’s scene and how I hope I am taking a path somewhere different than other people.
Click here to download and read the article from the June 2018 issue of DownBeat Magazine. Article by Bill Milkowski.
Today, April 1st, is the 'official' release date for my second album. 🎉
I'll thank you in advance for the inevitable congratulations - I am fortunate to have kind internet friends, I do appreciate the sentiment very much.
April Fools seemed as fitting of a release date as any - release dates being mostly arbitrary vestiges of a once-existent jazz industry. The title of my album is Marcescence. Marcescence refers to when leaves die and wither upon a tree but do not fall off - My own semi-private joke about how it feels to study, practice and perform original acoustic music. I don't mean to be overly-bitter, but having a dark sense of humor seems to help with being a musician these days.
It's four years to the day since my first album released - It took over two full years to make this album. I wanted something I could keep going back to and work on until I felt it was done, rather than lining up a day in the studio and hoping for the best. (And why limit the self-deprecating torture of hearing yourself play to a single session when you can stretch it out for months?)
A lot of thought and production went into the album, but at the core of it, it is a duo album with my friend and pianist Julian Shore. While I am constantly in doubt of my own abilities and ideas, I trust Julian's taste and ears more than most things in my world. Rogerio Boccato was kind enough to add his percussion to the tracks that required more than I initially could foresee. Michael Perez-Cisneros is the first person to ever capture the sound of my saxophone in a way that matches what I want to hear in my head, the audio quality and sound of this album makes me as proud as the performance on it.
As with my first album, I recorded compositions I've collected from living composers. A couple of my own ideas, but mostly those of other people who write beautiful music that doesn't get heard as much as it could. I like the idea of recording, or re-recording others' works - Why must jazz artists all write AND compose? One could spend a lifetime dedicated to either pursuit.
I was recently interviewed by a journalist for an upcoming article in Downbeat Magazine about being an independent/DIY musician. So I've spent a lot of time thinking about the last 15 years I've spent in New York City working as a musician and damn near every other aspect of the music business as well. Many people marvel at my Jack of All Trades abilities - Web designer, production assistant, arranger, tech support, interviewer, graphic designer, composer, consultant, teacher, administrator, product specialist, saxophonist, editor, band leader, record label manager, crowd funding planner, distribution/shipping lackie - I would give it all up to be master of one - and am slowly shedding the parts I am fortunate to not need anymore. This history and ability to see so many different facets of music has just made me want to do something different with my output.
There is no Kickstarter. This album won't be on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon. There aren't really liner notes. I sent it to only the few reviewers I respect or who were kind enough to listen to my last album. I won't be posting outside of my own site the inevitably positive reviews (has anyone read a jazz review that was incredibly negative recently?), and I won't boast to you how well its doing on the radio (although this I am actually genuinely optimistic and thankful for).
You can hear the album on my website. I don't expect you all to buy it, but as I said of my last album, if you think its good, buy it for a friend. This album will not reach the far corners of the universe, but I will be pleased if the people who appreciate beautiful sounds made with acoustic instruments hear and enjoy the album.
For those of you that made it this far, I invite you to my performance at the Cornelia St Cafe in New York City to celebrate the new work. Ingrid Jensen is kind enough to lend her beautiful sound as a special guest on Wednesday April 18th.
I did the thing. I have a new album.
Its "For Us, The Living II: Marcescence". I can't promise you'll like it, but I am fairly certain it won't sound like what you've heard before.
To celebrate ..myself? I have an album release gig lined up.
Julian Shore - Piano, Rogerio Boccato - Drums & Percussion
Andrew Hadro - Baritone sax, flutes + clarinets
SPECIAL GUEST - Ingird Jensen - Trumpet!
This album will NOT be on iTunes, Spotify, streaming or elsewhere on the internets in the US. Available via CD or digital package only through andrewhadro.com
Every CD comes with a Download code. CD's are in short supply, but will be available at the CD release performance in NYC.
The official release date is April 1st, but I'm allowing pre-sales for people on my mailing list (Shhh... tell everyone)
For Us, The Living II: Marcescence is the second recording in this series. All of the compositions recorded on this album were written by living composers.
This is a dedication to the musical giants upon whose shoulders I stand. Rather than re-interpret and re-perform long-standing works, I wish to extend the timeline of jazz with new compositions and performances by the best living composers and musicians today.
- Andrew Hadro
"A great radio voice" is often a kinder way of saying "your voice is so low I can't understand anything you've said". But on the radio with proper amplification you can make out the words - perhaps not the meaning or reasoning, but the words are clear.
This is a meandering way of saying if you want to listen to the radio show I recorded with Dave Sewelson on his show, "Music for a Free World" on Little Water Radio you can now do so. We yakked, we improvised, and listened to some great recent records that I brought in - Kevin Sun, Derrick Michaels, Dave Ballou, Nick Roseboro, Charles Evans, ScienSonic Laboratories...)
I was so pleased to be asked by fellow baritonist Dave Sewelson to be a guest on his Little Water Radio show. You can stream the whole show, and get a sneak peak of the new album that releases April 1st, 2018.
After a busy summer of 2017 spent working on my second album (!) and being a director of the Litchfield Jazz Camp in Connecticut, I am finally getting to some long put-off projects.
I recently rehabilitated the JazzBariSax.com website that I curate. Same great content, much more modern and functional layout. I hope to regularly update that site with content and reviews for baritonists everywhere.
And more obviously I have a new website myself. Even though I worked as a free lance web designer (mostly for musicians) for 10 years my own site was severely out of date. But the kind folks at SquareSpace, who hurried my exit from the web design arena have provided an excellent platform to present myself.
Please drop me a line, I'd love to hear from you.
Taming the beast. A few people asked how the bass sax is coming along. So here's a few things in the practice docket. #basssax #basssaxophone#saxophone #Conn #Vandoren
My debut album, For Us, The Living is released.
