We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Mirror of the Mind

by Earl MacDonald

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $7 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    4-panel digipak designed by Daniel Boccato, featuring art by Deborah Dancy.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mirror of the Mind via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 5 days

      $15 USD

     

1.
2.
3.
Beneath 03:21
4.
Blackbird 05:48
5.
6.
7.
Miles Apart 03:38
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

about

“Mirror of the Mind” embodies Earl MacDonald's ongoing search for new ways to express himself through his music, while challenging the defining boundaries of jazz. By drawing upon outside influences and incorporating cello into his ensemble palette, MacDonald has again achieved the element of surprise for which reviewers have called him “visionary” and “startlingly original.”

The album features MacDonald’s latest band, the Creative Opportunity Workshop. C.O.W.’s unique instrumentation (cello, saxophone, piano and percussion) was chosen as a means to escape the predictability, established parameters and creative confines found in the more typical jazz instrumentations. The combination is stunning.

MacDonald is known to look to other musical styles for inspiration and “to keep things fresh.” Within jazz, this practice dates back to Jelly Roll Morton, and is seen in Dizzy Gillespie’s association with Chano Pozo as well as John Coltrane’s infatuation with Indian music. With C.O.W., Earl has amalgamated a wide spectrum of influences, including Brahms, Schumann, Earle Brown, the Beatles, folk music from various cultures, Johnny Mandel, Chick Corea, Ornette Coleman and Nat Cole. The results have led reviewers to speculate that Earl may be forging a “new hybrid jazz form.” With musicality and without pretense, MacDonald pushes forward the progressive trajectory of his idiom.

“Mirror Of The Mind, from pianist Earl MacDonald and the Creative Opportunity Workshop, is an album that surprises and delights—from the
unusual piano, cello, sax and percussion line-up to the mix of styles and inspirations that influence MacDonald’s writing.”
~ Bruce Lindsay, All About Jazz

“Mirror of the Mind is another great installment in the interesting, endeavors and ever-growing catalog of pianist/composer Earl MacDonald. Chamber Jazz at its best.”
~ H. Allen Williams, Jazz Times

“Pianist Earl MacDonald succeeds in carving out a brand new niche for himself separating his past from this new vision of jazz yet to be clearly defined. A clever and innovative production from one of the most accomplished pianists in the business, Mirror of the Mind is truly a challenging listen taking jazz to a different level, one in which pianist Earl MacDonald and his Creative Opportunity Workshop are the pioneers.”
~ Edward Blanco, All About Jazz

“A magical, musical alchemist of hip hybrids, Earl MacDonald, the Canadian-born, Connecticut-based pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader and educator, has created yet another visionary, surprise-filled work with the release of his new CD, ‘Mirror of the Mind,’ featuring his hand-picked jazz chamber group, the Creative Opportunity Workshop.”
~ Owen McNally, The Hartford Courant

credits

released October 15, 2013

Personnel:
Earl MacDonald – piano
Christopher Hoffman – cello
Kris Allen – saxophones
Rogerio Boccato – percussion

Produced by Earl MacDonald
Recorded by Peter Kontrimas at PBS, Westwood, MA on Nov. 2 & 3, 2012
Mixed & Mastered by Earl MacDonald & Peter Kontrimas at PBS.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Earl MacDonald Connecticut

Described as “a magical, musical alchemist of hip hybrids,” Earl MacDonald continues the long, impactful tradition of political and social activism within the jazz arena. The pianist/composer serves as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Connecticut. Visit earlmacdonald.com for more info. ... more

contact / help

Contact Earl MacDonald

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Earl MacDonald, you may also like: