Ellipse by Ellipse

Electric jazz EP.
Friends and collaborators Kirk Kadish, Jon Gagan, and Mark Clark gathered in the studio on April 20, 2021 to record the pieces "'77", and "Exit".
Thank you for listening!

When I was an adolescent growing up in rural New Mexico, I was learning bass via nightly rock 'n roll rehearsals with my brothers. We had a blast doing typical garage band fare: Stones, ZZ Top, Bachman/Turner Overdrive, and when we wanted to really challenge ourselves, The Allman Brothers. It was during this time that I was exposed to the intensely creative albums being put out by artists like The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Jeff Beck, and Return To Forever. Listening to these records was as formative an experience as I have had in all my years of playing. I was thrilled by the sense of unlimited imagination and musicianship that seemed to be at work.

It wasn't until my family relocated to the "big city" of Santa Fe when I was 14 that I began to really consider the possibility that I myself might study jazz and explore this musical realm which up until that point sounded like pure magic and wizardry to me. I met drummer Mark Clark, who was two years older than me and already an accomplished player.. He was legendary in our community for the long hours of practice he put in, and also for the results! He showed me the importance of discipline, and to this day I know I was lucky to have him as a role model and mentor.

Mark and I have gone on to do countless gigs, recordings, tours, and other projects together over the years. With the passing of Chick Corea in February of 2021, I was inspired to contact Mark to discuss revisiting that certain adventuresome spirit that was everything to us in our youth. The result was the piece "77". I wrote this in memory of Corea, who of course was one of the giants of jazz fusion. Back in the late 70's, our group of friends would always put our scarce money down for the latest Chick Corea release, and these records never failed to come through as compelling listening.

To complete the group for the recording, Mark and I enlisted the services of good friend and all-around bad dude Kirk Kadish. We laid down a second piece, titled "Exit", on the same session. We hope you enjoy the results!

JG

Longtime bassist for Ottmar Liebert, Jon has a passion for instrumental music of the sort that lives in the territory outside of genre. Favorite artists are Jeff Beck, Miles Davis, Vince Mendoza, Aretha Franklin, and Gabriel Faure, to name just a few.