After over a year of work, Lumina, my second solo album, is available today.
The album has my name on the cover but a project like this involves a team of people. I feel very fortunate to have been surrounded by a really stellar group of artists and collaborators, all of whom have made the work to get this music released a wonderful experience. My sincere thanks goes out to everyone involved.
Foremost in this team of collaborators is fellow drummer Ross Murray, who is an exceptional audio engineer. His huge good nature and creativity is a large part of the album. We worked together at his studio, Happyrock International, in Chelsea, Québec, and he handled the mix mostly long-distance, sending me expert revisions and tweaks online.
Another fellow drummer and fabulous musician, Jean Martin, mastered Lumina. His expertise in crafting music from all manner of percussion sounds really shines through, I’m very grateful for his highly skilled ears.
A collaborator who has accompanied the project from almost its inception is photographer/ film-maker Youssef Shoufan. A beautiful collection of his photos became the basis for the album design. Youssef also directed a series of video excerpts from Lumina. His thoughtful and elegant visuals really bring the music to life. This ongoing visual representation of the music from the album has coloured my understanding of what the project is about. I’m very much looking forward to expanding the series of videos… stay tuned for more.
My thanks also goes to designer, photographer and hugely prolific electronic musician John Sellekaers. John provided a beautifully elegant album design on a very tight schedule. John and I are also releasing an album together, called Unnatural, available on March 24th.
Damian Nisenson agreed to release Lumina on his Montreal-based label Malasartes Musique without hesitation when I approached him with the idea. My thanks to him for his guidance on the path to releasing the album.
The Centre des Musiciens du Monde has also been a very supportive friend throughout the project. My sincerest thanks to the entire team.
Of course, I owe a debt of gratitude to my family. Missed dinners, days and weeks away, attention glued to my laptop, phone, emotional support, financial support… Being a freelance musician is a particularly self-absorbed profession. It’s impossible to sustain without a support system.
Thank-you ♥️
Finally, I am grateful to the Conseil des arts et de lettres du Québec for initially supporting the creation of the music.
And an immense thank-you to the Canada Council for the Arts for the generous funding to complete the project.
