On April 25th, 2015, two good friends of mine - Bailey Meola and Sydney Schumacher - were killed by the Nepal Earthquake while trekking through the Langtang Valley in the Himalayas. I had known Bailey since we were 6 years old and in kindergarten together, and became friends with Sydney in high school. Their death was a heavy blow at a time when I had just moved to a new city and was struggling to find myself, both as an artist and a human being. In The Heart Of The Earth is a tribute to their memory.

I first met Robert Sadin later that year in what would turn out to completely alter the course of my creative journey. It was the first semester of my second year at the New School, and he was the professor of a class called Special Topics. With only a very vague idea of what that meant, I signed up on a whim not knowing that it would be far and away the most influential class I took the entire time I was in college - so much so, that I took it again every semester until I graduated. I was so struck by the depth of his knowledge that I started studying with him one-on-one the following year. Not having done my proper research in advance, it was only after we began private study that I realized he had produced albums by some of the artists that had had the biggest influence on my creative identity thus far. Lucky me!

I composed In The Heart Of The Earth over the course of roughly a year from mid-2016 to mid-2017, during which process Robert’s guidance proved to be invaluable. Studying with him taught me to nitpick at every aspect of my writing and forced me to get as much mileage as possible out of each idea. Once the composition was finished, I asked him about recording it and was ecstatic when he offered to produce the session. That December we traveled to Boston to record with an incredible group of musicians assembled and conducted by his friend Don Palma of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Due to a long list of logistical challenges exacerbated by the onset of COVID-19, I’ve been unable to release the recording until now, but the starts have aligned at last and I’m incredibly proud to present In The Heart Of The Earth on April 25th, 2021 - the 6 year anniversary of that tragic day in Nepal.

In The Heart Of The Earth

V: The Important Things Have A Way Of Making Themselves Clear

IV: Six Thousand Miles Of Open Road

III: Night Of Snow And Solitude

II: Joy In The Little Things

I: A Warm Embrace Never Felt So Sweet

Sketches From The Plague Years COMPLETE

This album represents the first collaborative effort of Isak Gaines and Logan Vrankovic - two emerging composers who first met at the 2018 International Antonin Dvorak Composition Competition in Prague. Consisting of two duo pieces for piano and tenor saxophone - one written by each composer - the work is an exploration toward the intersection of chamber composition and improvisation; of order and chaos, ultimately searching for the place where they converge.

The Sleeping Mind

multi-instrumentalist/producer/composer
seattle -->nyc-->philly
label: @inneroceanrecords
website: www.isakgaines.com
bandcamp: https://isakgaines.bandcamp.com

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