Album Title: YMUSIC
Artist: yMusic

Released by:
StorySound Records
5 May 2023

All tracks produced and written by yMusic
Mixed and mastered by Valgeir Sigurðsson

TRACK-BY-TRACK

Baragon- This track is a mood. Its harmony explores common tone diads, and was written to accompany the wild trumpet part. It ended up feeling like an epic battle of sorts, between the trumpet and clarinet, hence the Godzilla-inspired name. 

Zebras- This was inspired at first by the sound of key clicks on the bass clarinet. The song goes back and forth between a “big 7” and “little 7” feel, meaning that the song can be counted in either a fast or slow seven beats. The title came from some stand-in, nonsense lyrics Alex wrote along with the ascending melody, and we got attached to calling the track Zebras. We love the anthemic end, as well as the eventual triumph of Hideaki’s bass line.

Peter Inn- This is the second track yMusic ever composed together. Violin and viola intertwine plucked sounds to accompany a brooding and ever-changing melody in the winds. The name is wordplay on the idea of "petering out," but with the idea that the group's sound conjures a roadside inn somewhere, perhaps in New England. 

The Wolf- We were wondering what would happen if started from the loudest mood we could think of. We found the screaming trumpet/clarinet/piccolo texture, and worked in all directions from there. This is one of the most fun pieces to perform, because we really get to go all out.

Flood- This track was built on a violin and viola motor that took inspiration from the work yMusic did with legend Paul Simon. The flute enters, wild, virtuosic and frenetic, before cello comes in and tries to console.

Sober Miles- This piece imagines a (rarely sober) Miles Davis playing a pocket concerto. The ensemble's supporting chords were generated by collective improvisation and quickly codified. The title also refers to certain travel days.

Three Elephants-  We picture pachyderms in the heavy-footed, plodding bass clarinet, cello and viola writing. This piece works in a slow climb to a triumphant finish. The vocal/trumpet fanfare starts as a diversion or siren call. The persistent violin melody entreats the flute and then the viola before the cello starts a quick rhythm that takes us into another kind of music altogether.

Whosay- This piece is built on a sliding string passage that keeps shifting further apart, never quite coming into focus - a watercolor wash of texture and color. Trumpet and voice explore this world, never quite finding their footing.

Cloud- We wrote this on the last day before lockdown 2020, with the idea of putting something positive and healing into the world in the midst of widespread anxiety and uncertainty.

Music Videos

YMUSIC BIO

Founded in New York City in 2008, yMusic (Rob Moose, violin; Nadia Sirota, viola; Gabriel Cabezas, cello; Alex Sopp, flute; Hideaki Aomori, clarinet; CJ Camerieri, trumpet) believes in presenting excellent, emotionally communicative music, regardless of style or idiom. In 2023, they will release an eponymous album of self-composed works. yMusic has released four full-length albums of commissioned music, featuring work composed for the ensemble by such luminary composers as Andrew Norman, Caroline Shaw, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli, Marcos Balter, Judd Greenstein and Gabriella Smith. Outside of the classical genre, yMusic has collaborated in the studio and on stage with dozens of popular artists, including Ben Folds, Emily King, Jose Gonzales, ANOHNI, Dirty Projectors, John Legend, Son Lux, the Staves, Bruce Hornsby, and Paul Simon.