Chris Abelen (trombone & compositions), featuring Willem Abelen on soprano & alto sax – new album, new project

A new album is underway, original tracks from start to finish, launching as a minus-one project: buy the sheet music, get the play-along track free, and join in.

Update: the first two tracks are on their way. Both “Matching” and “Going Short” are already up on SoundCloud, with the wider streaming release following within a few weeks.

Underneath, funky guitars and drums fill out the rest of the band, sometimes a bass line too, though most of the chord information for improvising comes from the two guitars, the bass sometimes adds a line underneath a theme, like on “Going Short.” All of it built from Band-in-a-Box RealTracks and Logic samples.

Matching

From the forthcoming album The Joy of an Empty Trash Can, the first single to see daylight – sheet music & play along

Matching, from the album The Joy of an Empty Trash Can, puts Chris Abelen’s trombone in the lead, with Willem Abelen answering on soprano saxophone through echoes and sustained long notes.

As with the rest of the project, it’s built as a play-along: sheet music and free backing tracks, all of it built from Band-in-a-Box RealTracks and Logic samples.

Going Short

From the forthcoming album The Joy of an Empty Trash Can, the second single to see daylight – sheet music & play along

Going Short, from the album The Joy of an Empty Trash Can, puts Willem Abelen’s soprano in the lead, carrying the theme and the solo both. My own contribution is considerably more modest: one note, a long A, held through the second and third repeats of the theme. As an elder in the room, you’re supposed to know when it’s time to step back a little. I took the hint literally.

As with the rest of the project, it’s built as a play-along: sheet music and free backing tracks, all of it built from Band-in-a-Box RealTracks and Logic samples.