Zane Carney gets eclectic on new free jazz album, Alter Ego
“I wanted this record to feel alive.”
Guitarist Zane Carney has announced his latest studio album Alter Ego, recorded with a new quartet of scene vets from Los Angeles.
Alter Ego, the third studio album under Carney’s name, digs into the realms of free improvisation and modal jazz. Alongside the improvised compositions are musical experiments and two reinterpreted standards: Minority and Oleo.
Joining Carney on the eclectic new record are Jerry Watts Jr. on bass, Gene Coye on drums and Katisse Buckingham on woodwinds.
According to Carney, Alter Ego places emphasis on improvisation, with many of the final tracks being first takes without editing in post.
“I wanted this record to feel alive,” Carney said in a statement. “This is the first time my actual improvisational spirit is being expressed in recorded format. I wanted to capture the sparks that fly when Jerry, Gene, Katisse and I improvise together and document the untamed, almost manic spirit that LA’s late-night jazz scene has produced.”
Expounding further on the rules (or lack thereof) that went into achieving the record’s raw characteristics, Carney said, “We approached this session as one might approach an unmoderated debate: no judgement or rules.”
“Every one of us served as a conversation-leader at different points on the record, and I think you hear that especially on songs like Alter and Lost.”
Alter Ego will be released on April 30 via Orenda Records. Listen to Brain Freeze, the album’s first single below:
Alter Ego’s tracklist below:
- Brain Freeze
- Alter
- Oleo
- Lost
- Pitchfork
- Minority
- Things You Aren’t
- Found
- Ego
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