Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking -- Busy Body

Listen to the newest full length album from Sam Blakeslee & Wistful Thinking - Busy Body, which came out on 10/28/2022 on Outside In Music!

Featuring:

Sam Blakeslee - trombone/composition/electronic production

Chris Coles - alto saxophone

Brandon Coleman - guitar

Matt Wiles - electric bass

Special Guests:

Jamey Haddad - percusion

Brian Krock - alto flute

Dan Pugach - drums

It can be found on streaming HERE

It can be found on Bandcamp HERE

Also, thanks to Lydia Liebman Promotions for helping spread the word about the release!

LINER NOTES

First, I’d like to thank Brandon, Chris, and Matt for their incredible contributions to Busy Body as well as my previous release with Wistful Thinking, The Long Middle. This music on this album was never really planned, but somehow sprung forth in the void of the pandemic. Delving into the vast world of electronic production was a way to cope with the uncertainty of 2020 and I’m so grateful for the musical encouragement from the three of them throughout the whole process. To have Brandon at the helm of producing the album was an extremely fulfilling creative process, and the ways that he supported my vision while opening me up to new ideas was something special and unique.

While most of these tracks are brand new, a handful of unreleased compositions from around 2014 made their way onto this album, and felt right at home in the realm of fusion and electronica. The title track, Busy Body falls into this category and I’m honored to feature master percussionist Jamey Haddad on this piece as well as the namesake track of the ensemble, Wistful Thinking. Jamey has left an indelible influence on all musicians who have come up through Cleveland’s music scene, myself included, and it means a lot to me to have him involved with this project.

The album also features special guests and frequent NYC collaborators woodwind phenom Brian Krock as well as Dan Pugach on drums. Both Brian and Dan are incredibly gifted composers and arrangers and I knew their compositional sensitivity would fit the big picture of this album perfectly.

Thank you to Outside In Music and Lydia Liebman Promotions for helping shape the release and getting the music out into the world.  It’s extremely cathartic to finally be able to share this music with you that was written at such a pivotal point in my life as an artist, and I hope you enjoy what was the unexpected result of the period of remote collaboration over the spring and summer of 2020.

- Sam Blakeslee

ABOUT BUSY BODY

While it’s always exciting to put new music out into the world, I don’t think I’ve been looking forward to a new release as I have with Busy Body. Oftentimes as artists we create music out of an external necessity, or as smaller stepping stones to larger career goals. But with Busy Body, the music sprung forth because of an internal necessity to create something, anything. Like most musicians in the early pandemic, I went from making music in a variety of NYC-based ensembles 5-6 days a week to absolutely no ability to create or perform. Leading up to this point, I was also writing a great deal for the big band medium. However, with no safe situations for big band performances in the near future, turning to electronic production gave me the timbral contrast that has always drawn me to composing for large ensembles. All of a sudden, I felt like I had an orchestra at my fingertips. Before this time period, I didn’t even own a microphone, much less have any skills for this type of endeavor. 

While it was a tough learning process, over time electronic production became my instrument while making this record. While I do play trombone on the album, it was also refreshing to have my playing take somewhat of a back seat to the overall sonic and compositional pictures that were entering my mind. It was interesting to work both as a composer and producer in ways that the live recording takes of jazz don’t always necessarily provide. Without that recording framework laid out, particularly with the title track Busy Body gave me an opportunity to express my long love for psychedelic rock albums with fascinating post-production aesthetics like Jimi Hendrix’s Axis: Bold As Love or the albums in the late 1960’s from The Beatles. Master Percussionist Jamey Haddad created some stunning layers of sound on Busy Body and Wistful Thinking that captured that setting perfectly. The second track Hollandaise Sauce, that features Grammy-nominated drummer/composer Dan Pugach, is an ode to the 16-bit video games and fusion sounds of the 90’s. Producer and Guitarist on the record, Brandon Coleman exposed me to the world of prog-rock, whose influence can be heard on the trombone choir meets metal band track Klepto. 

I’m so excited to share this record with everyone, because I think out of this extreme internal necessity to create art in any way possible during that time period, the end result was one that is probably my most honest, and best encapsulates the wide range of musical styles and genres that make up my musical self.

PRESS QUOTES:

"In a year fraught with anxiety and isolation, there are some musicians who have found powerful opportunities for musical and spiritual growth.  As evidenced by his stunning new release, Sam Blakeslee is clearly one of them.  This new body of work reflects a trombonist who thinks and plays like a composer, patiently waiting for each new idea to be heard before delivering and developing.  As I listened to this album, I remembered something that Bob Brookmeyer used to say, "The line is everything."  I can promise that if you follow the line that permeates Sam's new album, you will be richly rewarded with a story both unique and beautiful, and most importantly, honest."

• Alan Ferber, Grammy-nominated Trombonist/Composer

“Wistful Thinking showcases trombonist, Sam Blakeslee’s impressive playing and distinctive compositions incorporating a wide palette of colors and emotions. The unifying element throughout the project is Sam’s consummate and sensitive solo presence. Whether featured in a sparse acoustic setting or surrounded by layers of electronic sounds, his melodic message remains one of beauty and displays a thoughtful and profound connection to the music.”

• John Fedchock, Grammy-nominated Trombonist/Composer

“Composer, Sam Blakeslee, is a name to keep in mind as an upcoming creative, contemporary, and, more importantly, engaging composer, no matter the musical setting.” 

Rufus Reid, Legendary Bassist/Composer