This is my movement of "In Memoriam", the collaborative requiem created by Inversion Ensemble in 2020-2021. This was such a meaningful project to be part of. Huge thanks to all involved for this incredible recording!

Performed by Inversion Ensemble under the direction of Trevor F. Shaw
Soprano Soloist: Carol Brown
Pianist: Michelle Schumann

Text:

...as the fowl can keep
Absolute stillness, poised aloft in air,
And fishes front, unmoved, the torrent's sweep,
So may the Soul, through powers that Faith bestows,
Win rest, and ease, and peace, with bliss that Angels share.

- William Wordsworth, excerpt from “Rest and Be Thankful! – At The Head Of Glencroe”

Until the morning of Eternity
Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be.
- Christina Georgina Rossetti, excerpt from “Rest”

The direct perceptions which I now have are those which now fall within my "specious present".
Of those which are beyond it, I can only have memory or anticipation. Now the "specious
present" varies in length according to circumstances, and may be different for two people at the
same period. ...The [objective] present through which events really pass, therefore, cannot be
determined as simultaneous with the specious present. And thus an event may be past when I am
experiencing it as present, or present when I am experiencing it as past. The duration of the
objective present may be the thousandth part of a second. Or it may be a century... What reason
can we have to believe in the existence of such a present, which we certainly do not observe to
be a present, and which has no relation to what we do observe to be a present? Whenever we
perceive anything as existing in time -- which is the only way in which we ever do perceive
things -- we are perceiving it more or less as it really is not.
- J.M.E. McTaggart, excerpt from “The Unreality of Time” (1908)

Pie Jesu: Her Rest Shall Not Begin Nor End But Be

Blues for Alice Remix - Courtesy of the Audio Department

A groove for flying whales.

From "Hello?" by Perry Mills Project

Perry Mills – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals
Mark McCartney – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Bob Villwock – keyboards, backing vocals
Michael Manring – bass
Grant Reeves – alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, bass clarinet
Mark Maxwell – tenor saxophone
Maurice Montgomery – trumpet, flugelhorn
Tanya Scarlett – backing vocals

Producers: Bob Villwock, Michael Logue, Perry Mills, Mark McCartney
Executive producer: Perry Mills
Recorded and mixed at SunSound Studios, Grass Valley, CA • Recording and mixing engineer: Michael Logue
Mastered at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, CA • Mastering engineer: Evren Göknar
Horn arrangements by Grant Reeves
Vocal arrangements by Tanya Scarlett, Perry Mills, and Bob Villwock
Voice-over by Jane Barbe, courtesy of the Barbe Family ("Pick Up The Call")
Some vocalizations by Michael Logue ("What Elephant?")
Photos by Tony Finnerty and Jim Beckett
Special thanks to Pat Jacobsen, Kit Bailey, and Alan Kuehne.
© 2008 VerySomething Records

"Flying Whales" artwork by Alex Cherry (http://vhm-alex.deviantart.com/art/Flying-Whales-74602309)

Cetacean Aviation

This work has been composed for a brass quintet (horn, 2 trumpets, trombone and tuba) but with the addition of a complementary part of electronic synthesis. 
In the following links there are the PDF files with the theoretical introduction to this piece and also its score:

Explanation in English language:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hja15n07xtgLOH0xPJw4Yrq8o94KjpWj/view?usp=sharing

Explicació en català:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/19L0ikzhDGwtVb9LgITglNW2XQShRtWNu/view?usp=sharing

Explicación en castellano:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16FXnr-bdmvRe1rPxRBRKp32Uz5AzY9NA/view?usp=sharing

Score / Partitura:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DW1ACXAtPLe2pAiOScOBAcT1zEEG9Lty/view?usp=sharing

From French Horn To Sinusoid

Original, passionate, dramatic, rock-rooted, jazz-schooled fusion from Objects in the Mirror, 2004. Perry Mills - guitar/vocals; Mark McCartney - drums; Pat Jacobsen - bass; Kit Bailey - percussion; Bob Villwock - keyboards.

Climbing

http://shop.rachelflowersmusic.com/releases

Larks' Tongues In Aspic Part 1 - King Crimson (cover)

http://shop.rachelflowersmusic.com/releases

This is my cover of Teen Town by Weather Report composed by Jaco Pastorius, from the album Heavy Weather. I didn't use any click track. The drums were all played live, starting with the basic rhythm track, then I added the drum hits. I later made the two drum tracks separately in mono, so I could control the reverb for the drum hits. The synth sounds were a combination of the Nord piano 2 88 and Yamaha m06. The Rhodes piano was done on the Korg SV 88, and I played real fretless bass. For the doubling unison spots, I recorded them separately without hearing the other bass track, so it would make it easier to concentrate on the pitches. I sang the soprano saxophone parts also through a Lewitt MTP540 microphone. The conga drums were done on the Yamaha m06. ~ Rachel Flowers

Teen Town - Weather Report (cover)

WLIAVNS

Featuring agaric, my poet/artist/badass friend from Westminster, CO.

Six [feat. agaric]

our live debut @ Jazz OUTside @
Kenny Dorham's Backyard
Hosted by Dark Matter Horns
1106 E 11th St
Austin, Texas 78702

Recorded and mixed by Perry McCauley

Dave Laczko - trumpet, effects
Willie Oteri - sax, flute, effects
Alex Westphal - guitar, effects
Trevor Villwock - keys, effects
Harold McMillan - bass
Steve Mankenberg - drums

Art Is Time Compressed With Love (Live @ Kenny Dorham's Backyard 3-27-19)

Inversion Ensemble
Aether: Fire - passion/psyche
March 1, 2020
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Austin, Texas
Trevor F. Shaw, Artistic Director / Clinton Bray, Guest Conductor
Austin Haller, piano

The Heart Asks by Trevor Villwock
Text: Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
The Heart asks Pleasure – first – 
And then – Excuse from Pain – 
And then – those little Anodynes 
That deaden suffering – 
And then – to go to sleep –
And then – if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor
The liberty to die –

Upon reading this Emily Dickinson text for the first time, my mind was immediately drawn to the current opioid epidemic in the U.S., and then to the broader theme of addiction in all its manifestations. At many times our conscious thoughts, motivations, and actions are driven only by our base animal desires even if we tell ourselves another story. In my piece I tried to capture our fraught relationship with our reptilian brain and the way this relationship intersects with a modern world where quick satisfaction is a very easy thing to find.

The Heart Asks by Trevor Villwock

Hello! I'm a composer, pianist, and bandleader based in Austin, TX. If you like something you hear and are interested in performing it, please contact me at trevorvillwock@gmail.com for details! 

cover photo (shot by Alex Salinas): Glossolalia Online at Call It Anything Fest, Kenny Dorham's Backyard, May 26th, 2019