What Else Is There

In late winter of 2021, four improvisers convened in a Chicago studio. This rare event united UK pianist Alexander Hawkins, midwestern bassist Tatsu Aoki, stalwart drummer Michael Zerang, and me, sleepless Oakland guitarist Karl Evangelista (who had arrived in O’Hare mere hours before downbeat). During breaks, the conversation turned to music and family, two threads that seemed to dominate the waking lives of the musicians involved. Pondering this notion, Aoki asked, „What else is there?”
„What Else is There” combines my open-ended compositions with a series of dialogic free improvisations, each piece essayed with joy, intensity, and spontaneity. This record constitutes some of the best of what I have to offer, marrying spur-of-the-moment intimacy with moments of unexpected gravity.