I have a new album out this Friday, September 1st.
It’s called Hindsight and it features 7 original songs performed by an outstanding band: Aaron Goldberg on piano, Reuben Rogers on bass, and Obed Calvaire on drums.
There’s a (rather long) back story which I’ll share below, but…
You can pre-order it here:
https://bobreynolds.bandcamp.com/album/hindsight
Why pre-order?
Your pre-orders help the album make a splash (Billboard charts, etc.) which helps for press and bookings, so thank you!
Ordering from Bandcamp has four benefits over iTunes.
- You get the option to download mp3 OR uncompressed audio files. There’s also a limited edition signed CD (~200 still available as I write).
- Both digital and physical orders include official liner notes and sheet music to the song “Swedish Blues” (delivered on release day).
- I’m often asked, “Hey Bob, what’s the best way to support your art?” Well, I see a much better percentage of the sale through Bandcamp than other digital outlets.
- You can stream the full album for free. (Right now it’s just the first song, but all become available on release day.)
All that said, you can certainly grab the album on iTunes here.
Even if you don’t purchase a copy of the album, I thank you for taking time to listen and helping me share the news about its existence! 🙂
Thank You so much!
Bob
Part 2: The story behind Hindsight
PRE-S — After reading this next part I find it overly precious and self-centered. I almost deleted it. But since you can choose not to read it, I include it in the hope it helps the person reading who struggles with similar shit.
Here goes.
TL;DR—I’m a perfectionist (read: I’m afraid people won’t like my art) therefore I hoard my creations to protect my ego.
There. I said it.
Still reading?
We recorded Hindsight awhile ago. Lemme ‘splain.
I was living in New York and writing music that excited me but I lacked the confidence to share.
I was too scared to release it because all I could think was “What will [so and so] think of it? Is it really jazz? Is it crazy to have a ballad where I don’t play in the first part?” Etc.
Beyond that, I recorded too many songs in a single session and some were just not ready yet. (A few appeared later on Somewhere In Between.) That led me to shelve the whole session because I thought I didn’t have an “amazing 12-song album.”
I threw the baby out with the bathwater.
It sounds almost ridiculous to me now…except I still shoulder those negative voices with everything I create. A song. An album. A video. This email.
Time passed.
I finally showed some of the cuts to trusted colleagues. My friend Janek Gwizdala (bassist on Somewhere In Between and producer on Can’t Wait for Perfect) told me I was crazy for not putting this out. “How can you sit on something this good?!” he said.
Oh, believe me, I can sit.
More time passed.
I showed it to more friends and got similar reactions. Gradually, I came around to the idea that what I had was strong performances of 7 compelling songs.
I began to (re)notice my favorite mid-century jazz albums by folks like Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, and many others shared a common theme: 5 to 7 tracks per album.
I started rethinking this thing.
More time passed.
I reached out to Juan Pablo Alcaro who mixed Can’t Wait for Perfect. He lives in South America now so I loaded a hard drive with the humongous session files from the recording and shipped it to him.
More time passed.
Juan and I went back and forth via a combination of email and Facebook messages until we settled on a sound for this collection.
Finally, I had finished mixes to consider.
But (wait for it…) … I let more time pass.
Eventually, I put up one song on my website to test the waters. That song was “Late In The Game” and the comments poured in: “Bob: When will this be out?!”
But by this time I was working on another album so I thought “Well I can’t put this out now because it’s too old.”
(If you’re still reading you’re likely thinking “This guy is nuts—or an egomaniac. Nobody cares!” And you’re right. I’m self-centered and have a fragile ego which I allow to stop me from doing many things. I’m working on it.)
Anyway…
I continued warming to this album and as time passed I became more and more fond of it.
So I sent the mixes to Scott Kinsey who mastered it and gave it that finishing touch. Then Jonas Bostrom, who did the album design for Can’t Wait for Perfect, came up with a killer design that captured the mood of these songs.
Soon—I suppose that’s relative—I had an album. And the title, Hindsight, came to me one day and seemed to convey all these feelings.
Finally, in March of this year, I had physical CDs sitting in my studio.
But I’d just released Guitar Band and was about to hit the road for a month with Snarky Puppy. So I waited some more.
And now here we are. September 1st, 2017.
Since I’m the record label (judge, jury, executioner) I just picked a date. I have a birthday at the end of September and I wanted this out before then.
So there it is.
You can’t possibly still be reading?
But if you are, lemme share a bit about the music.
Part 3: Behind the music
Part of what I was attempting to do with the songs on this album was be the singer AND the soloist. I was working with John Mayer at the time and had spent years in (vocalist) Jonah Smith’s band. I was comfortable in and fond of settings where I got to “fill” around the lead vocals and solo in the middle or the end. I was searching for ways of replicating that in my own music. It’s difficult. The songs “When It’s Over,” and “Silver Lining” reflect that concept.
I also was composing music for two short films and a dance company at the time. “Swedish Blues,” and “Fight or Flight” are coming out of that headspace.
“Ready, Set” provides an opportunity for one of my all-time favorite things in life: sitting in the pocket and dialoguing with other musicians.
And “Step Aside” and “Late In The Game” was (I suppose) some subconscious nod to the jazz music of the late 90s. The “Young Lions” I loved so much.
So, there it is. That’s the story behind Hindsight.
Thanks for reading—and hopefully—listening. 🙂
I appreciate you subscribing to my newsletter and sharing my music.
Hugs and high fives,
Bob
PS, here is that link again:
https://bobreynolds.bandcamp.com/album/hindsight
