Mirth Co-Liberation Project - Mirth Co-Liberation Project, Pt. 1: Wayne Shorter (2019)

This is a project I've been thinking about for some time now. The spirit of jazz is about creative collaborations and so much of the history of the music was built on these types of sessions, often with musicians who never rehearsed the material ahead of time. This project is all about that spirit.

We never rehearsed the songs prior to recording this record most of the tracks on here are first takes. The way it worked was I would have an idea for the arrangement, we would talk for a minute about it, yell to Michael the sound engineer to start the recording. And that is just how it would go for each song. My rule to everyone in the group was to just be themselves. I think at first there may
have been a sort of expectation that the album had to be "traditional" but I think you will see right from the get-go that I had no plan to be traditional. I believe distorted guitar has a place in a more traditional jazz world, and because of that, this album gained energy that I wanted from the get-go. Also, when we come to the man of the hour, Wayne Shorter, I believe it would be disingenuous to create a "standards" album in a standard way. Wayne is the guy that invented so much music and adopted new technology.

So sit back, take a listen to this project with open ears to what is possible with 5 high caliber and creative musicians, who I am extremely thankful for and I think you'll be in for a great ride.

Tim Mirth: Guitar and Banjo
Theron Brown: Piano
Matt DeRubertis: Bass
Mark Russo: Trumpet
Daniel Kyswonis: Drums