Blues by the great Charlie Parker

Rasmus Sorenson on Piano
Arturo Valdez on Bass
Jerome Gillespie on Drums

Perhaps

This composition, Invisible Cities, was named by my friend, Dylan Reis (an amazing bassist in NYC/Philly), after the famous novel by Italo Calvino. You'll have to ask him to know exactly what he meant by that, but I loved the name and kept it.

The Honesty Band is a project I started in New York with the goal of overlooking sensationalism and clickbait culture. The musicians involved on this project, are some of the most authentic and true-to-themselves young artists I know. However, I want to iterate that Honesty Band is an approach and a mindset even more so than it is a specific group of people. The musicians in this video are my "Amsterdam" incarnation of Honesty Band and are all studying at Conservatorium van Amsterdam here in the Netherlands.

Roenik Roa - Guitar
Julian Wittich - Bass
Chen Har Even - Drums
Austin Zhang - Saxophone, Composition

For more information on Honesty Band: https://austinzhangstudio.com/home/honesty-band/

Invisible Cities

'Constable' aims to capture Mother Nature's spirit in sound and tap into the same power that John Constable used to impact me. From utter serenity to unthinkable enormity, Mother Nature can bring about inner peace, tragedy, insignificance, understanding, or all of the above. As I biked an 80 kilometer circle from Amsterdam through Zuid Kennermerland National Park and back, I saw the widest fields of green, a sunset to die for, and bone-chilling rainstorms all in a single day. I remember being totally soaked, drained of all my energy, and shivering only to turn a corner and see the most beautiful bird I'd ever seen angelically floating in a stream. That day, exhaustion and loneliness stood right beside complete euphoria, and I hope this project can bring you even half of the restoration and joy it brought me while making it. 

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery — air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, 'This is what it is to be happy.'” ― Sylvia Plath

FULL MUSIC VIDEO: https://youtu.be/LY1i2HDJkfs
FOR FULL RELEASE NOTES: https://austinzhangstudio.com/2019/12/01/constable-release-notes/

PERSONNEL:
Robinson de Montmollin - Piano
Niklas Lukassen - Bass - https://www.niklaslukassen.com/
Josh Roberts - Drums - https://www.joshuarobertsmusic.com/
Austin Zhang - Alto Saxophone, Composition, Audio/Visual - https://austinzhangstudio.com/

SOCIAL LINKS:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austinzhangstudio/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinzhangstudio/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/austinzhangstudio/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/austinzhangstudio/

Constable

Here's the first installment of Austin Zhang Apartment Sessions:) Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rolyXNsRkzQ

This is one of my absolute favorite songs to play: Jimmy Van Heusen's Darn That Dream. Been listening to Dexter Gordon play it since I was a kid and have always gravitated to it.

This session features an amazing Brazilian guitarist, Leo Herzog, who's currently studying at Conservatorium van Amsterdam. On bass is my great friend, August Bish. He studies at Ithaca College in New York, crosses between classical and jazz, and really brings a personal approach to both.

Hope you enjoy this more casual apartment session, much more coming soon.

Brave Sound Productions

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