Kyle Jordan - Alto
Nathan Williams - Tenor
Alex Batey - Baritone
Myles Kelley - Piano
Robben Harris - Bass
Reggie Kollman - Drums

Thanks to Dan Barrett, Jack Burt, and Beth Wiemann of the Umaine SPA.

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"The concept for my project “Bike Ride” developed during and as a reflection of my time as a student at University of Maine. When I started as an undergraduate in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic redirected a lot of time which I might have used socializing or playing towards exploring my new home. During this time, I found late night walks to be comforting and exciting, and refused to look at campus maps for fear of spoiling the discovery of a new building or throughway. I averaged 14,000 steps daily in my first month at school, and wore the tread off of my sneakers.

This ritual was always accompanied with music, which I think I subconsciously programmed to “score” my walks. One night, I emerged at the top of the hill at the intersection between Long Rd and Munson Rd just as Brad Mehldau’s “The Garden” reached its climax at 4:00. The massive flood lights from Alfond Stadium loomed over me, and I stopped to take a picture of the space so that I could remember the feeling. On another occasion, I captured the street light over the Smith Hall Lot at sunset and again after dark. The contrast of the two photos felt powerful, and I combined them in photoshop. The result was distorted and eery, and set in motion my study of liminal spaces as an aesthetic:

I started to pull away from Jazz and group music in 2020 because It wasn’t what I was listening to. With less opportunities to play live in the midst of the pandemic, I turned to music production as an outlet. I used the above image as artwork for my EP “LVLGHTS”, which is a collection of music concrete, poetry, and improvisation which I edited to match a concept I had in my head: music which matched vivid dreams which I was having during that time. The material was heavily inspired by Slauson Malone’s “Crater Speak”, love songs by Daniel Johnston, and underground rap from the 2010s like Earl Sweatshirt and Vince Staples. Performing “LVLGHTS” live throughout the summer of 22’ empowered me creatively for the first time in a while.

Around this time, I outgrew my usual campus walks and purchased a bike, which could cover more ground, quicker. I became interested in the paper mill, Old Town history, and Ayers Island lore. I continued exploring how time, photography, and sound could interact to create powerful experiences. My dear friends Ben Flanagan and Reggie Kollman introduced me to the local music scene which I had been missing out on completely. The value of live improvised-music was clear again. At this point I realized that my nightly bike rides had become research for a project which was forming in my head.

The concept for “Bike Ride” is to examine liminal spaces (transitional periods or places) with small ensemble music and film photography. The culminating performance for the project will feature a live jazz sextet, playing in tandem with a projected set of pictures taken around Marsh Island on my late-night explorations. When a photo is fully resolute on the screen, the music will be static and free, but as the photo dissolves into its successor the band will play compositions which twist and resolve. This performance will represent a journey which is personal to my experience in this place, with each photo marking the end of a leg and each leg being scored by a chart."