The result was their album , recently released on independent label . The project garnered praise from, among others, the revered jazz magazine , who lauded the album’s “exquisite sounds” and “gorgeousness.” Give Way features six multilayered tracks in which Campbell Strauss, who is now ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿’s director of jazz ensembles, and Mikesell mix line upon line of musical ideas.
“Emily and I met in grad school at the University of New Orleans in mid-2020,” said Campbell Strauss. “While in a virtual jazz combo class, we got paired up for a two-week remote collaboration.” The two of them were so thrilled and surprised by the sounds that were produced that they kept writing and recording, which led to Give Way. “The two of us composed and performed everything you’ll hear on the album, and we also engineered, edited, and mixed it. The sound is lush, with many layers and textures of trumpets, saxophones, and flugelhorns.”
The creative process that spawned the album is an unusual one, said Campbell Strauss. Improvisation and spontaneity lie at the heart of each track, but unlike typical jazz improvisations, this music was not created in the heat of the moment. The two artists are bouncing musical ideas off each other, for sure, but these musical conversations took place over some time, as well as distance. Jazz musicians—indeed, any musicians playing together—would expect to be in the same room or studio. This was impossible during lockdown, said Campbell Strauss, and even twenty-first-century digital technology is not good enough to allow for real-time synchronicity: The minute delay means musicians cannot play together remotely at the same time.
Each of the six tracks on Give Way was put together in the same way. The process began with a written prompt, after which either Campbell Strauss or Mikesell would record their musical interpretation of the prompt and send it to the other person, who would then craft their response, often laying tracks on top of each other. A conversation between the two would evolve, in which the recording would be passed back and forth, every time growing in depth or length. Each composition took about two weeks to complete, and the outcome is a rich soundscape combining Campbell Strauss’s choir of saxophones with Mikesell’s layered trumpets.
(Want to read more about the project? Check out Campbell Strauss and Mikesell did with the website Off Shelf.)
On April 9 at 4:30 p.m., Campbell Strauss plans to host a Give Way listening “party” where people can get together on campus and enjoy the album together. The venue will be ³Õºº¾ãÀÖ²¿’s new digital music CEMA lab— The Center for Experimental Multimedia—a pioneering venue due to open later this month.
