Eric Plaks – Transgressions (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Theme 59 – Transgressions – Music can be heard as “wrong”, an artistic choice can be thought of as “inappropriate”, but as far as grist for the artistic mill, there is always the interest inherent in crossed boundaries, blurred edges, and constant trespass.

Theme 60 – For Daniel Carter – For the one and only NYC legend, and his profligate beauty on seven horns and piano.

Theme 61 – For Svetlana Boym (1959 – 2015) – Svetlana was my advisor and my mentor in Russian Literature at Harvard. She was an original and inspiring superstar, and taught me how to measure imagination.

Theme 62 – Cecil Waves – “Cecil Waves” is the name I give to a way of navigating through triplet arpeggios a la Cecil Taylor, but also just a poignant thought of missing the maestro who left us in 2018.

Theme 63 – For John Hicks – Hicks was the first jazz legend to make me feel like I belonged – an experience other musicians reported as well – and his shimmering swing lives on forever.

Theme 64 – For Matthew Shipp – Shipp is a touchstone for me, a foil and an enigma. His style is so dominant, so magnetic, so various. I step around his vast echoing shadow in search of my own sound.

Theme 42 – Tiananmen Blues – For Rose Tang – This is a home recording with Evan Crane on bass, dedicated to Rose for surviving to tell about it (and inviting me to play in a 30th anniversary commemoration with student leaders and dissidents who participated in the 1989 democracy movement in China).

Tracklist:

1-1. Eric Plaks – Theme 59 (Transgressions) (09:57)
1-2. Eric Plaks – Theme 60 (For Daniel Carter) (05:22)
1-3. Eric Plaks – Theme 61 (For Svetlana Boym) (05:07)
1-4. Eric Plaks – Theme 62 (Cecil Waves) (07:22)
1-5. Eric Plaks – Theme 63 (For John Hicks) (04:03)
1-6. Eric Plaks – Theme 64 (For Matthew Shipp) (05:25)
1-7. Eric Plaks – Theme 42 (Tiananmen Blues) (05:52)
1-8. Eric Plaks – Improv 5 (05:29)