Patti Moran McCoy Jesus In Paris CD

***Level With Me marks my first foray into solo acoustic piano recording, as well as a first test of my skills as an audio engineer. I recorded the entire album at home on my family's Ibach piano, using a single Rode Stereo NT4 microphone, a DigiDesign DIGI002 audio interface, and ProTools LE running on a Powerbook G4. For post-production, I sent the album to a professional mastering engineer, preferring to learn mastering techniques for a later project. While some of the compositions on Level With Me come from my old performance repertoire, the album in many ways represents new ground for me. Rarely have I recorded my improvisations in the past, though they continue to drive my advancement as a composer and as a collaborative musician; this album includes four improvisational tracks. Moreover, in earlier stages of my compositional development, I most often wrote music that carried little or no meaning beyond its artistic value; on this album, each song conveys a unique emotional and personal context."lost visions" reflects a recurring scenario for me, sometimes in dreams, in which I imagine in an instant that I see someone I've loved and lost, and then the next time I look the person has vanished. The anguish that I feel during such moments manifests itself in the plethora of dissonances scattered throughout the improvisation, and in the abrupt, untimely ending."Wish You Were Here..." most specifically applies to my first romantic relationship, on which prolonged separation steadily took its toll. On a different, more general level, it applies to a sense of longing I feel periodically for those friends and relatives of mine who have passed away over the years."They Won't Know What Hit 'Em" and "The Next Step" share almost identical back stories. They concern parallel stages in my growth as a musician, and also my desire to spread my love of jazz to everyone I know. I composed and performed the two pieces at the midpoints of my high school and college careers, respectively, as the first jazz entries ever accepted into traditionally classical performance art showcases."verging" represents my life when it starts to feel chaotic and out of control. I begin to feel that I'm standing at the edge of something dangerous, and I have to rely on my friends, my family and my music to prevent me from slipping."stars and mirrors" ...

Eventually, ...