projects


ugetsu

high-energy hard bop sextet orignally inspired by art blakey's jazz messengers. co-led with saxophonist jon bentley. featuring original compositions by members of the band. our first album can be found here

bernie arai trio

sax/bass/drums trio with andre lachance and jon bentley. this is supposedly my chance to be writing more music. our repertoire encompasses both "inside" and "out" playing

oddity

a collective quartet with bassist tommy babin, andre lachance on guitar and jon bentley. we first got together to explore the use of odd time signatures in jazz improvisation.  now we've ammassed a repretoire of challenging originals, twisted arrangements and obscure transcriptions.

densabi

extended electronic/acoustic ambient improvisations created by shakuhachi master alcvin takegawa ramos and chris gestrin playing analog synths, along with me using digital FM synthesis, generative processes on an atari ST computer and various other outdated gear.

wabi

drumset/piano duet project with chris gestrin. playing originals and the occasional obscure jazz tune with heavy emphasis on interplay and improvisation. influenced by paul motian, carla bley and thelonious monk.  

underscore

not quite ready for the public yet, this is my solo electronic project using the nintendo gameboy and my primary musical instrument. so far all the synthesis, sequencing and mixing is done on various models of gameboy and other handheld and/or obselete consumer electronics.

some more of the groups that i play in

altered laws
brad turner trio
jon bentley quintet
sharon minemoto quintet
elevatorhead
hard rubber orchestra
ihor kukurudza trio
fred stride jazz orchestra
jennifer scott trio
daryl jahnke quartet