IAN CAREY
Genres: Post Bop, Third Stream • United States

A trumpeter of rare poise and vision, San Francisco’s Ian Carey makes a striking statement with Roads & Codes, an ambitious project that weaves his evocative original compositions together with the music of Stravinsky, Ives, and Neil Young. Rather than venturing into fusion or jazz/classical Third Stream territory, Carey and his intrepid band interpret the music from an acoustic, post-bop perspective. Whether brooding, bruising, or bluesy, each piece is arranged with an unerring sense of narrative flow, though the journey often feels more like an episodic dreamscape than a logically linear affair. A skilled graphic artist who also works as a designer, Carey incorporated his love of graphic novels and Japanese manga into Roads & Codes, including the slyly self-referential cover art that explains his illustrations as part of a strategy for attracting a wider audience. Expertly mixing his two creative outlets, he programmed the album almost like an impressionistic novel, read more...