Saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi and drummer Jason Nazary present their new album, here i am no i, on September 18th. The release marks their duo debut for We Jazz Records, adding to an expanding release catalog also including Nazary’s solo album Spring Collection (2021). here i am no i is a free-flowing body of work with continuous forward-motion, building on the acoustic duo setting and expands with electronics and voice landing somewhere beyond genre. Dedicated to jaimie branch, the album is a spontaneous product of trying to come to terms with the unimaginable loss of a close friend.

Jason Nazary details the process from his perspective: ”This project was, at least for me, the first collaboration and really even the first time I had played music with anyone after jaimie passed. At the time I was still very raw and still processing everything. I remember recording the whole thing in one go. I had kind of locked myself in the studio for a few days recording constantly [released by Nazary as Time in Knot on Bandcamp shortly after] when Patrick sent me these 7 tracks and I just put the whole thing up in a session and recorded them as one set. It was very spontaneous, mainly bacause I didn't have the bandwidth to do much else at that time.”

The seven tracks included on the album echo the organic process and the emotional necessity for this music to exist. From the searching mood set by opener and first single “self portrait against blue”, everything feels very live while also adding sonic layers to build a sound space beyond the usual sax+drums duo setting. Listeners familiar with the two artists’ previous work find natural entry points in the electro-acoustic scope of the album, while discovering possibilities brought on by this specific new setting. There’s a “tone poem” quality to the music, one which feels devotional without any obvious references to “spiritual” musical cornerstones.