released June 4, 2021

Perry Robinson/Christopher Garcia/Nobu Stowe
May the light forever dance across your path…

This album is dedicated to Perry Robinson
(1938-2018).

PERSONNEL:
Perry Robinson – Bb clarinet, micro-ocarina
Nobu Stowe – piano
Christopher Garcia – El Monstro
percussion of north and south India
percussion and breath instruments of MesoAmerica
PAISTE cymbals

All music was spontaneously composed/improvised by Robinson/Garcia/Stowe.

Recorded at Newzone Studio, West Los Angeles
Recorded on June 6, 2015
Recording Engineer: Wayne Peet
Produced by Christopher Garcia and Nobu Stowe
Special Thanks to Peter Kuhn and Alex Cline

cover image by Nobu Stowe
additional images on each track are credited to the photographer

Tracks are numbered in the order they were recorded


LINER NOTES by NOBU STOWE

Perry was the traveler. He played “jazz” by effortlessly dancing across different musical paths and always living in the moment. Whenever you performed with Mr. Robinson, “openness” and “spontaneity” mattered the most.

While living in Baltimore, I first performed with Perry in May 2006 when we recorded “Hommage an Klaus Kinski” in Brooklyn for Soul Note. This was a fully improvised date – but without ignoring overall song structure, tonality and above all, melody. Soon after in November 2006, I toured the East Coast with him and the Italian percussionist Andrea Centazzo, performing Andrea’s compositions (released on Ictus as “The Soul in the Mist”). I also invited Perry to join my piano trio for several occasions until moving west to San Diego in 2011. Here, I met Perry’s onetime pupil and multi-reed player, Peter Kuhn. Peter and I both missed hanging out with Perry the free spirit, and organized a few concerts and recordings.

Perry travelled to California at the end of May 2015.

Personally, I wanted to further explore the melodic/tonal improv which Perry and I tried in “Hommage…”, incorporating more ethnic diversities. The drummer Alex Cline suggested that Christopher Garcia is the one for this.

Like Perry, Chris effortlessly dances across different musical paths and always lives in the moment – as symbolized his El Monstro percussion, incorporating a great range of percussion instruments from Central/South America to Asia, and attested to by his long-time tenure with the Mother of Invention.

Alex also suggested Wayne Peet’s studio in West Los Angeles. So there, Perry, Chris and I met and performed for the first time. The result is this recording.

Probably I am too close to judge this music, but I confess that I was very much inspired by these two master musicians showing me the light reaching for musical freedom. I hope you can hear the light as well.

June 5, 2021
Nobu Stowe




ADDITIONAL LINER NOTES by
CHRISTOPHER GARCIA

"May the light forever dance across your path…"
Is what the man said


THANKS to a recommendation by Alex Cline
was invited by pianist Nobu Stowe to make a recording
with he and Perry Robinson

2 musicians that I never met or had the pleasure of
MAKING MUSIC with previously

showed up at
Musician/engineer Wayne Peets
NEW ZONE STUDIOs
set up
and left the room so Wayne could do his thing….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meeting these two gentlemen and
MAKING MUSIC
in the moment
at the moment
every moment
is was what was called for

There was no discussion of any kind
no keys discussed
no rhythms discussed
no solo orders or solos were discussed
i.e.,
Play it if you hear it
And don’t play it if you don’t

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

MAKING MUSIC
only exists in
THE PRESENT
and nowhere else
aka
now here

“mindfulness” is not something we become aware of
or study as a musician

in MUSIC it
ALL WAYS IS
ALL WAYS WAS
ALL WAYS WILL BE

the millisecond we stop paying attention to
THE MUSIC

it is GONE

like a great wave
we are blessed to catch and ride it as long as it allows us
until we are (quite) unceremoniously thrown off of it

My TBSO = totally biased subjective opinion is that
we don’t CREATE MUSIC and we don’t steer it
(Who can steer a wave?)

We are allowed to go where it takes us for as long as we can

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“music is the highest,
absolutely highest art of all,
because it’s the most immaterial…..”
Marina Ambrovic

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every THING is MUSIC

melody
harmony
rhythm
timbre
frequency
and
the SILENCE that was there before it began
and
the SILENCE that was there when the music stopped

you can hear it in the way people talk
the way people walk
and the way they smile..............

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Blessed to MAKE MUSIC with peoples of many cultures for many years
in 28 countries on 5 continents, so far

each music, musician, idea and space have their own
vernacular,
timbre,
frequency
and
RESONANCE
e.g.,
Avant garde chamber music
Avant garde “jazz?”
Avant garde music for percussion
Carnatic Music
Chinese classical and folk music
Devotional
Hindustani classical and folk music
Indigenous
Japanese court,
Mexican indigenous
Mexican folkloric
etc.,
some of the FREEEST MUSIC I continue to be invited to play

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SIDENOTES

found out that Perry had attended LENOX SCHOOL OF JAZZ
when Ornette Coleman and John Bergamo (my mentor) were there
at the same time
(was it The water or the air ???)

and Nobu shared that Perry had a group with the great Antonio Zepedathe godfather of consistently MAKING MUSIC with indigenous instrumentsof Mesoamerca and Mexico since 1979
when Antonio was in New York, (but never recorded)so he was well aware of the resonances of those instruments

Perry told me that he made a trio record with
Nana Vasconcelos and Badal Roy
paused, smiled and said
“You sound like both of them by yourself……”

Always asked to play with musicians much older than me since I was a kid
8 to 25 years my senior
and I still play with folks like Don Preston, Bunk Gardner, Bobby Bradford

Interestingly enough, my father was born (9/17/1907)
before each of those gentlemen’s fathers was born, 
and that includes Perry dad, composer Earl Robinson (7/2/1910)
i.e.,
the world continues to get smaller and smaller and smaller
In the best way possible

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EL MONSTRO

Unfortunately there is no template for how to record the instruments
that have allowed me the grace to play them
i.e.,
drums which are made of wood, or gourd or metal
some with skins
reside next to
bows,
singing stones
PAISTE cymbals and suspended metals
Yaqui gourd water drums
and clay MesoAmerican breath instruments

all within arms reach and played
at the same time
in real time
with fingers, sticks, mallets, brushes, breath

which can frustrate recording engineers

KUDOS to Wayne Peet for it sounding the way it sounds to me
as ONE HUGE RESONANCE

Kind of like LIFE
All existing at the same time
and bleeding and overlapping into each others resonance
creating a new one

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

VERY SPECIAL THANKS to
ALEX CLINE
NOBU STOWE
PERRY ROBINSON
and of course
THE CREATOR for allowing it to happen
and
MI FAMILIA for allowing me to be

THE UNIVERSE IS ALWAYS ON TIME