This is a bit of an excursion from my more contemporary fusion and sound-track material. Touching on an well known classic jazz-blues swing tune written  and originally performed by the great jazz pianist Thelonius Monk. Countless versions and renditions of this fun swinging tune have been done in the past, many by some of the world's great musicians. 
This is just me, with the addition of some wonderful saxophone work played by Georg Boehme (as soloist and multi-horn band).

STRAIGHT NO CHASER (Audric Jankauskas/Georg Boehme-2023)

The incredible Harry Jacobson joins me on this funky groove oriented fun jam, with a quirky intro and outro.
Harry is well known not only for his distinct masterful electric guitar blues-rock style, but also for his delightfully stinging guitar tones that sustain and blossom into beautiful overtones and harmonics.  
Enjoy the ride!

THICKETS and THORNS (Audric Jankauskas/Harry Jacobson-2025)

In the spirit of Weather Report and Pat Metheny, I created this unique instrumental fusion tune all based in the odd meter of 15/16 and the Lydian mode.
Jazz singer, CHRISTY BLUHM, joins in on this magical gathering of musical surprises, adding her wonderful voice here and there, finalizing this track in a joyous improvisation.

MAGICAL GATHERINGS (Audric Jankauskas/Christy Bluhm-2025)

Translucent is the title track from my latest CD.
Tracks can be purchased at this link:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mikehoffman10

Thanks for supporting the music!  Enjoy!

Translucent

VISITATIONS (Audric Jankauskas-2025)

1. The Velvet Hammer MASTER

The Single Pedal of a Rose

We've all had this experience... You just want to get home after a long hard day at work.  But you know how the rush hour gets... You try your best to start your journey off smoothly, but as expected the traffic is just nuts.  Crazy drivers, accidents, road blocks, detours, the damn malfunctioning GPS... it's all just too much stress!  
But, finally relief is just around one more corner.  Sweet, sweet home is in sight! 
That's what comes to my mind as I listen to this track.  Perhaps you can relate?
All instruments programmed/sequenced except for the recording of my guitar!

RUSH HOUR (Audric Jankauskas-2015)

Willow 4

SANTA FE EXPRESS  (July 2020)
Right in the middle of a wonderful solitary road trip heading out to the great South-West, I wrote a tune which I decided to title “Santa Fe Express”.  Even though it was about 3 years before I actually had the opportunity to finish this track in 2020, I still remember the moment this musical idea came about  (May, 2017) while noodling around with some motifs on my travel guitar.  After a long 10-hour day of highway driving, I was finally settled into my hotel room in the town of Springfield, Missouri.  At this point I knew my final destination, Santa Fe, New Mexico, was only a couple days away. Even though I was a bit exhausted, I was also very much excited about the discoveries and fun that I knew would come my way in the next couple weeks. I was anticipating how I was going to be reuniting with my wife, and other family members and friends, in which we all would be exploring the beautiful area surrounding Santa Fe.  I guess that emotional energy inspired me at that moment. 

When I compose music, I often like to paint a picture that represents an experience in life. “Santa Fe Express” is, in my opinion, a good representation of that experience as I embarked on that exciting four day journey from Philadelphia, PA to Santa Fe, NM. 

For those musicians out there that might appreciate details about this track… I think one of the coolest things about this composition is a curious shift from a minor mode to a major mode that takes place halfway through the tune.  Even though the underlying motif (or the suggestions of the motif) exists almost throughout the entire track, the first half is based in minor (which for me represents the first couple days on the road that had it’s moments of trepidation). After the obvious bridge (symbolizing my recognition of progress), the track propels forward with a more uplifting major feel (which for me represents the joy coming from the anticipation of all the cool things that I have yet to experience down the road).

Along with the many awesome discoveries that followed after arriving to my ultimate destination, I found out there is in fact a train named Santa Fe Express (a.k.a. Rail Runner), that has daily runs back and forth to Albuquerque, NM. Just coincidence… but somehow a confirmation that this tune was meant to be.

For various reasons it took a few years to finally have the time to complete this project.
Better late than never!
I hope you all dig and enjoy my latest track!

Translucent

Mike Hoffman 19

Related tracks