Donald Fagen – The Nightfly

Sam Gendel and his longtime partner, illustrator-artist Marcella Cytrynowicz, created Audiobook as a series of spontaneous collaborations after the two were making stuff in the same room. Gendel was working on a piece for saxophone while Cytrynowicz was drawing. As explained in release notes, Gendel started “having visions of an ancient dance party, a swampy soiree,” and began to “capture the feeling of the lines snaking across the page.” What began by happenstance sparked this series of 13 pieces, both music and artful illustrations, that form Audiobook. The musician’s woozy saxophone tone, channeled through his uniquely Gendel-ian techniques, suggests Jon Hassell’s Fourth World recordings mixed with muffled ghetto-blaster rhythms and filtered through underwater microphones. Cytrynowicz’s vivid abstractions, which are included as a booklet in the deluxe edition and are featured in Audiobook’s inner and outer sleeves, reward deep exploration. – Randall
A1 AB
A2 CD
A3 EF
A4 GH
A5 IJ (written by Wayne Shorter)
A6 KL
A7 MN
B8 OP
B9 QR
B10 ST
B11 UV
B12 WX
B13 YZ
Artwork – Marcella Cytrynowicz
Design – Christine Im
Mastered By – Mike Bozzi
Music By, Mixed By – Sam Gendel
Synthesizer [Suzuki Waraku III Synthesizer], Alto Saxophone – Sam Gendel
Track A5 is a cover of “Deluge” by Wayne Shorter.